


Fly on Your Own

by Firewhisperer13



Series: How to Train Your Dragon Series [5]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, F/M, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Spoilers, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22774597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firewhisperer13/pseuds/Firewhisperer13
Summary: The island of Berk has become a peaceful utopia, where dragons and people have lived in peace for years, But as Berk becomes more and more crowded with dragons, a new villain threatens to take them all away. Before long, it's a race against the fiercest foe Hiccup and Reign have ever faced, in an effort to not only save Toothless, but let him live in peace with the newly discovered Light Fury. All Rights Reserved, Dreamworks Animation Studios, 2019.
Relationships: Astrid Hofferson/Original Female Character(s), Fishlegs Ingerman/Original Female Character(s), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Original Female Character(s), Ruffnut Thorston/Original Character(s), Snotlout Jorgenson/Original Female Character(s), Tuffnut Thorston/Original Female Character(s)
Series: How to Train Your Dragon Series [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636735
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

I looked down at one of the many ships as I dangled from the mast, safe under the cover of night for now. The growls and squawks of trapped, confused dragons echoed from below, tugging at my heartstrings and making me wish I could just jump down now and free them. My hands remained steady as I waited for the sign of life from our side, ready to spring into action. A soldier paced the deck with a dim lantern, keeping watch. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice the figure lurking in the fog.

A bright flame ignited from the misty clouds on the deck, drawing the guard’s attention behind him. Someone emerged from the darkness, creeping closer to the source of the lantern light. The guard whipped around suddenly, watching as a large, dark form slunk down the bars of a cage, staring him down with bright green eyes. The scales on the creature’s back began to glow a bright blue, contrasting the relatively earthy tones of the boat.

The guard lunged forward suddenly, swinging his spear out at the figure, who blocked it with his blade of fire. Flames clashed back and forth, sometime coming a little too close for my comfort before the lantern was dropped. The fire consumed the planks of wood below, but the figure and the creature walked through as though it were nothing.

“Aah! Demon!” the guard cried. “You’re a demon!” The figure lifted up his mask and attempted to assure the guard he was a human being. “But you walked through fire!” The man explained his suit, I’d assume. I couldn’t hear his soft words all that well. “Oh, I know a demon when I see one. No human legs are that skinny!”

He tried to turn and run, but a large, flaming dragon and its rider landed in his path.

“Think that’s a good entrance?” the rider shouted. “Get a load of this!” His cocky smile faded as the flames of his dragon reached the one area he’d forgotten to gotten to cover with scales.

“Aah! I knew it! More demons!”

“Ah, that’s really just a nitwit who forgot to fireproof his butt.”

“Guys, no! Not yet!” Sudden sparks caused a cloud of green gas to ignite. A two-headed dragon emerged from the smoke, its two riders balanced on each neck.

“Behold, your worst nightmare!”

“Behold!”

“Along with his sister, who insisted on coming.”

“ _That’s_ my intro?”

I rolled my eyes as I watched the plan completely unravel. I’d expected Snotlout and the twins to somehow mess it up, but this early in the plan was something new for them.

Fishlegs suddenly launched himself from the mast and extended his arms to pull out the wings that were part of our suits. But he didn’t quite get it, so he ended up skidding across the deck on his face.

“Sorry, still getting the hang of my wings.”

“Fishlegs, again with the baby?” Hiccup sighed. “This is a raid.”

“I couldn’t find a sitter!”

“Demons everywhere!” The guard shot up and attempted to run. “It’s the end of the world!”

I took that as my cue, and swung down from the mask with my feet out, slamming them against his back and sending him into the bars of one of the cages, knocking him out cold.

“Reign.” I cracked my knuckles and turned as Hiccup made his way toward me, looking slightly annoyed as he retracted the blade. “I had him right where I wanted him.”

“And now, I have him right where _I_ want him.” He sighed at my stubbornness, but seemed to know it was better in the end he was out.

“Okay, we screwed that up, but at least nobody else knows we’re here.”

I shook my head before we all split off to free the trapped dragons. As I made my way over to my section, I passed Ruffnut, who had been tasked with releasing the smaller dragons.

“Look at this weirdo.” She scoffed at a little dragon, pushed back into the corner of its cage in fear. Bet it’s super dumb.” Ruff reached out and attempted to pull the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. “Why can’t I get this cage open?” I sighed and reached over, sliding the lock out of place.

“It slides.” Ruff scoffed again.

“Obviously.”

“Attack!” I turned around to see a group of guards heading for us, eyes dead set on Toothless.

“Get the rescues out of here!” Hiccup ordered.

“Get the Night Fury!”

I refused to leave him behind, instead pulling my sword from its sheath and clashed it against that of a guard, keeping Hiccup from being run clean through. Hiccup kicked a guard, sending him tumbling right to the twins.

“No running on the deck! It’s slippery. You could fall.”

“Step aside! Let me handle the tough-guy stuff.”

Quickly, I ducked down to avoid a spear sticking through my brain, then swung my sword out and pushed that guard back before yanking my shield from my back and using it to defend from the guard from behind me. Hookfang ignited himself and sent several guards scattering, attempting to get away now that they realized they’d been outnumbered and overpowered.

“Look out! No, no!” Fishlegs ducked at the right time, causing two of the men running at him to just hit each other. As Hiccup and I fought off guards and freed the dragons, we were backed right into each other, throwing us off for a second before having to get back to fighting.

“I thought this was supposed to be a stealth mission,” I hissed.

“Yeah, they always start that way.” I turned around to see Astrid and Stormfly come down to pick up a guard running at us.

“Look out!” she warned.

“Thanks, Astrid.” I waved up to her as she dropped them down into the water. With the guards around us cleared, Hiccup and I raced over to the last few cages we could see and opened then, setting the trapped dragons free and hopefully ready to follow Toothless back home. Having the alpha of all dragons really helped us out in these cases.

“Move out!” Hiccup ordered. “We’ve got ‘em all!”

I called for Shriek and she skittered down the mast, allowing me to jump up on her back. We were about to take off, when I glanced back at Hiccup and noticed he hadn’t even gotten up on Toothless.

“Babe, come on. We’ve gotta go.” He looked around frantically, and I noticed his dragon hadn’t come over to him yet.

“Toothless, we’ve got to go!” Just as he put his blade away, more guards got back up and began to close in on him. I drew my sword again, feeling threatened by the number of them against the number of us. “Hey, guys…”

Toothless suddenly came bounding through the crowd, knocking all the guards over and rendering them motionless. He seemed eager, maybe even a little impatient, but something told me it wasn’t about leaving. He wanted to show Hiccup and I something, but we just didn’t have the time. We had more than one reason to rush home, after all. Hiccup jumped up onto his dragon, and we took off.

“Ha ha! You always have my back, bud.”

As we followed the others, I looked back at the ship again. What had been on there he wanted us to see so badly?


	2. Chapter 2

Berk came over the horizon near the end of the next day, the waves beneath us sparkling from the sunlight. I’d nearly fallen asleep a few times, and pitched forward to the point where I nearly fell off Shriek once or twice. A sense of anxiety began to overtake me at the thought of how long we’d been away. I kept looking from my husband, to the dragons and back to the island.

“Reign?”

I looked back from the island to see Hiccup and Toothless beside me, the former studying my facial expressions intently.

“You have that look on your face,” he observed. I scoffed at him and looked away, despite my doubts.

“No I don’t.”

“Reign, I know you.” I could feel his gaze burning through me, forcing me to talk. I sighed and rolled my eyes, then turned around to stare at his green eyes.

“I feel bad about how often we leave— how often _I_ leave. I feel like a bad mom sometimes, leaving Eret to do my job.” Hiccup’s eyes went wide, and he reached out to grab my hand.

“Hey, you are _definitely_ not a bad mom. You just sometimes have to go out and save dragons— which is really cool, when you think about it. So Eret sometimes has to babysit. You’re there the majority of the time.” I sighed as he leaned forward and planted a kiss on my forehead.

We finally approached land, finding it buzzing with dragon and human life alike. Sure, things were getting a little overcrowded, but the dragons didn’t have many other places to go once we rescued them.

“This is Berk.” I turned my head to see Hiccup talking to the herd of dragons, giving his usual speech. “Your new home away from home. A stunning, one-stop, all expense paid dream destination.”

“Stop doing that,” I scolded. “You make it more dramatic every time.”

“So, settle in and let your worries melt away. The service here soars, the cuisine is fiery.”

“What did I say about puns?” He made a face at me, causing us both to laugh.

“And the locals are as colorful as you get. Any run of the mill paradise boasts beaches and sunshine. Well, not us. We’ve got something no one else can touch. We, my friend, have dragons. Lots and _lots_ of dragons.”

“Maybe too many.”

We landed alongside all the new dragons, and as we hopped off, Hiccup pulled me against his chest. I rested one hand on his black-scale armor, while the other wrapped around his waist.

“Gang, meet our latest Berkians.” The large Crimson Goregutter roared, and villagers began to approach with large amounts of fish, feeding the malnourished creatures.

“Welcome to paradise, mate.”

“Well, aren’t you a beauty.”

“Aw, you’re welcome. You’re welcome.” I turned my head to see Snotlout marching around with pomp and circumstance, placing his helmet on another kid’s head. “I took on, like, a hundred trappers. A thousand trappers.”

“With burning undies,” Ruff mocked with a cackle.

“My thick, full beard almost caught on fire.” Tuffnut stroked the bit of his hair he’d tied in front of his chin to make it look like a beard.

“Ugh, just… Just stop.”

“So, uh, Hiccup’s mom, any notes on my bone-crushing assault, or was it pretty much perfect?” I nearly choked on my breath as the words escaped Snotlout’s mouth.

“Oh, it was…” Valka searched for the right word for a moment, one that wouldn’t blatantly insult Snotlout. “Indescribable. And please, call me Valka. It _has_ been a year.”

“First-name basis.” Slightly disgusted, I decided now would maybe be a good time to bow out and take care of my other business.

“I think the real hero of the day was Toothless.” I scoffed at my husband. “Isn’t that right, bud? What would we do without you, O king of dragons? What would we do?” I saw Astrid making her way over, so I waved at her to bring her toward me. “Astrid, can you take things from here?” I asked, offering her a knowing glance.

“Right! Yeah, of course I can. You head back.” I nodded at her, then turned to Hiccup and kissed his cheek before heading off toward our home. It rested all the way on the top of a hill, which proved to be a slight inconvenience, but it was nice for Hiccup and I to have some space from everyone else from time to time.

Complete silence wrapped around me as I opened the door, something rare around the hut these days. Before heading into the nursery, I dashed into Hiccup and my room to pull off my dragon armor. Not only was it irritating and heavy, but I’d probably scare our unsuspecting babysitter if I walked in looking like a dragon-human hybrid. After I hung the armor back up, I opened the connecting door and smiled. Eret had somehow managed to stay awake this time, waiting for my return.

I could’ve sworn I heard something crash off in the distance, but we were too far away for me to definitively tell.

“Welcome back, Reign,” he greeted with a smile, standing up. “How’d the mission go?” I chuckled.

“Things could have gone a little smoother, but we still rescued all the dragons, so that’s what matters.”

I smiled down at the two little girls swaddled up in their cribs, messy locks of reddish-brown hair starting to grow out and fall in front of their faces. They barely stirred as I tied their sling around my shoulders and picked each of them up. First Alith, on my left, and then Kerrigan, the quiet one on my right.

“They were perfect little angels while you were gone,” Eret gushed as I carefully laid them side by side in the cloth that allowed me to carry both of them. “Slept the whole time.”

“Are you kidding me? Hiccup and I have to get up at least four times a night in order to get them to sleep.” I shook my head and smiled as I looked down at my little girls… the newest parts of my everything. “I guess they’re just night owls.” I glanced at them a moment longer before addressing Eret. “Thank you again. Hiccup and I really do owe you.”

“Anything for the chief and chieftess.” I flinched a bit, somehow still not used to that title

“I should probably get to the Great Hall. I asked Hiccup to grab me some dinner while I came back for these two.” Before I walked out, I turned to look back at him. “Are you going to come eat?” He shook his head.

“I’ll do it later. I have to go on a quick patrol.” I nodded before heading back down the hill toward the Great Hall. As I passed by, I stopped for a second to stare at the knocked over totems and stacks of houses, and shook my head. The dragons must have gotten out of control again.

I dodged between dragon and Viking as I made my way toward the table in the back where we usually sat. Hiccup was heading to sit down with Gobber alongside him as I took a seat. The latter knocked a few people out of the way as Hiccup and I sat next to each other. He handed me a bowl and smiled at me, kissing my cheek before reaching his arm around my shoulders and leaning his chin against one to look down at our twins. Kerrigan had woken up, and was looking around, as though confused where she was. Hiccup reached one of his fingers down, and after staring at him for a moment, she reached up and grasped it with her tiny hand.

“You’re supposed to be the generation that leads us into the future,” Gobber scolded, clearly continuing a conversation he and Hiccup were having earlier. Tuff suddenly hucked some of his food right at Snotlout.

“Ha ha! Food fight!” I shook my head at the chaos, and allowed Hiccup to take the twins so I could eat.

“Ugh! Thor help us. Time to stop worrying about the problems out there, and start sorting out the ones right here.” Gobber grabbed onto the both of us, and I immediately tried to shove him off Hiccup, concerned about my daughters.

“Okay, okay, I’ll think about it,” Hiccup sighed.

“Hang up those saddles and settle down with your kids. Maybe even have a little boy.”

The entire table went silent as Hiccup and I stared at each other, horrified as the rest of the table went silent.

“He went there,” Tuff whispered.

"Can she even control that?" Astrid huffed.

“Start ruling like a proper royal couple, and acting like the parents you are!” Gobber turned to me.

“Talk to him, please. You’re the only one with any sense around here. With you wearing the pants, there’s still hope.” Disgusted, I pushed away from Gobber’s grasp and went to grab my daughters before starting to head out, not wanting to be around this any longer.

“Wow, Gobber… Not awkward at all.”

The moment I was outside the Great Hall, I collapsed onto the ground and sighed, looking down at my little girls. I loved them more than anything, but I wasn’t ready for another yet. The fact people wanted that to happen already… when our girls weren’t even one years old yet.

“Reign? You okay?” I looked up as Astrid sat down beside me. I didn’t say anything at first, just looking down at Alith and Kerrigan.

“I love them to death, but… I’m not ready for another kid yet. And I need people to understand that.” I sighed.

“Don’t let Gobber make your decisions for you. You and Hiccup can have another kid when you’re ready, if you even want one.” Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins emerged from the Great Hall, and Astrid pushed herself up to follow behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole chapter is a flashback, I just didn't want to put the whole thing in italics

Hiccup’s P.O.V

(ooh, there’s something I’ve never done before! What could it mean?

It really was just I didn’t want to write the feeling of Reign birthing children, so I kinda just switched the P.O.V)

I drummed my fingers as the council argued for the millionth time. They’d called a meeting to discuss protection from outside threats, after the whole Drago incident. Berk was still constantly in repair, though most of it was starting to get back to normal. A few of us had come up with the idea of maybe going out and rescuing trapped dragons, per my mother’s suggestion, and bringing them back to Berk. Some villagers complained about the space, but I didn’t think we’d get too overwhelmed.

I had bigger things on my mind, though. Reign had been having contractions all day, and despite my mother’s attempts at assuring me they weren’t anything to worry about, I couldn’t help but imagine the worst.

“Chief Hiccup.”

I snapped my head up to Spitelout, just now noticing it had gone silent, and everyone was staring at me.

“Uh…” I looked around at them and blinked, slightly embarrassed. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Hiccup, we understand you’re a little distracted, but--”

Before Gobber could finish his sentence, the doors opened, revealing Eret peering through. I couldn’t quite read the expression on his face, but he had been with Reign all day, which couldn’t be good.

“Eret?”

He nodded at me, and I felt my stomach jump before I rushed after him to Gothi’s hut. Before I even got up there, I heard Reign’s shouting and screaming, which made me move faster. I didn’t hesitate rushing to her side and kneeling down beside her to grip her hand. She glanced at me briefly, sweat rolling down her pale forehead as her labored breaths filled the momentary silence.

“Hi, hey, I’m so sorry I left you. I-I should have just,” I stuttered. “I mean--”

“Hiccup!” I looked down at her. “Deep breaths, love. Deep breaths.”

“Sorry, sorry.” I did as she said, and slowly, the joys of having a child started to dawn on me. Finally, I was able to smile. “This is it.”

“Yeah, I know.” She looked over to Eret. “Go get the others, but don’t let them come in yet. There’s enough going on as it is.” He nodded and dashed off again as Reign let out another scream, her hand gripping mine so tight I thought it would pop. My heart broke for a second, watching her face contort, and I attempted to reassure her. “Hey, hey, I’ve got you.” My mother and Gothi came over to check on her.

“Reign.” She lifted her head slightly. “You’re ready.”

“That’s a matter of perspective,” she joked. “But I know what you’re saying.” She looked up at me and smiled as my mother ushered Astrid out of the room. “It’s time.”

“You can do this. I believe in you,” I encouraged. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“And after this, we’ll finally get to hold that little baby, and take care of them, and love them.” She nodded and gripped my hand a little tighter.

“Here we go.” She leaned her head back and awaited instruction. Gothi, of course, could only write, and I’m sure Reign wasn’t going to take the time to read in this situation, so my mom served as her voice. “Reign, I’m going to count down, and when I get to one, I need you to push for ten seconds.” She gasped loudly and locked my hand in a death-grip, but managed to nod. “All right. Three… two… one.”

Reign’s head suddenly shot up and her face contorted as she pushed, holding her breath to the point where her pale skin turned a little red. My mother counted to ten, and once she reached the end, Reign’s head fell back, her eyes closing slightly. Panic caused my heart to jump, and I reached over to prop her head up slightly, waking her back up. She and my mother repeated the process over and over again, until finally, something happened.

“Reign, I’m going to need you to just push!” She shouted over the screaming. “I have a head.” Reign couldn’t even respond, she just did as told. “Shoulders… come on Reign, you’re almost done.”

She let out one last, pained cry, then laid down, sighing. We both waited in a tense silence for something to happen, and thankfully, after a few second, a strong wail came from my mother’s arms. She looked up at us and smiled, then motioned for Gothi to come over and cut the cord.

“Congratulations.” My mom almost sounded like she was tearing up. “It’s a little girl.”

Pride swelled in my chest as I smiled. I… I had a daughter? I had a daughter!

My mother stood to clean her off and check on her, while Reign reached up and touched my cheek. The two of us were unable to speak for a moment, overwhelmed with joy. Reign finally smiled again, looking back to check on our little girl. She seemed eager to hold her, not that I could blame her.

The moment faded, however, when Reign’s face suddenly contorted again, and she grunted in pain. Once her eyes opened again, she looked at me with panic, and my heart began to race.

“Mom, something’s wrong!” I called back to her.

“It’s most likely just the afterbirth.” She seemed oddly unconcerned, but I wanted to take her word on it. After all, she’d done this before.

The calm air went out the window, however, when Reign screamed just like she had moments ago. My mother left our daughter to Gothi and rushed back over to Reign, trying to figure out what was going on. Her eyes went wide after a moment, and she looked at us.

“There’s… another baby.”

Reign and I looked at each other, alarmed.

“Tw… twins…?” She stuttered out. “Oh, boy.” I shook my head at her.

“We can do this. We’ll be fine. How much trouble can two kids really be?”

“Have you _met_ Ruff and Tuff?” she snapped.

“They’re not going to be like them.” She opened her mouth to respond, but just ended up screaming instead.

“All right, Reign, same as last time.”

She nodded and they repeated the process, everything going smoothly at first. But at the point last time when my mother had seen a head, a horrified look crossed her face.

“I have… feet.”

My heart beat hammered in my ears. This couldn’t be happening.

“She’s coming out breech.” My mother shook her head and attempted to keep a calm expression. “Reign, you can still do this, but we need to move fast, okay? I need you to push even harder than you did last time.”

Her glossy, green eyes looked up at me, fearful. This was scary, for both of us, but we couldn’t let that stop us right now. We needed to try, at the very least.

“You can do this.” I leaned down and kissed her sweaty forehead. “I know you can.”

She barely nodded in acknowledgement, and pushed as hard as she could. Everyone waited in a tense silence, hoping for some sign of hope.

“It’s another girl,” my mother announced as Reign laid down again, hopefully finished. Nothing happened, not even a movement, not even a sound. My breath became shallow as I feared the worst and the silence began to settle.

Then, a strong cry, stronger than the first one, erupted.

Reign and I smiled, relieved. We had two daughters, two little girls, alive and apparently well. My mother went over to tend to them, and after finding nothing glaringly wrong, handed each of them to their mother. I helped her sit up, and she balanced each one on a leg, looking at them with love and pride. They were peacefully silent, occasionally stirring back and forth. Quietly and carefully, I sat down next to her and smiled.

“They need names,” she whispered, constantly shifting her gaze between the girls and me. “We can’t just call them the twins, we have those.” I chuckled and looked down at them again, trying to think of something.

“How about… Thelma… and Kari?” We both looked, then shook our heads. They didn’t suit them. “Well, all those boy names you had stored up are useless at this point, so you’ve got to help me out.” She reached over and flicked me.

“Not my fault you wanted a girl. Weren’t you supposed to come up with some?” I scratched my arm, embarrassed. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’ve been a little busy.”

“Don’t you screw this up,” she warned, a tiny laugh making its way into her words. I sat there for a few more moments, just staring at my daughters and trying to think of the right names to give them. A few cycled through, but every time, they didn’t work. I was starting to run out of ideas, when thankfully, a couple that might work popped up, as unconventional as they might be.

“How about… Kerrigan?” I rested my hand on out first-born’s head. Reign smiled and nodded. “And… Alith?”

“Alith and Kerrigan.” She rolled them over for a moment. “I love them.”

I leaned over and pressed my hands on her shoulders, looking down at my little girls. I’d been warned we wouldn’t get much peace and quiet after this, so I had to cherish the moment we had now. But something told me that wouldn’t matter. Everything’s different when they’re your kids, my mother told me.

“I feel like I don’t need to ask this, but… do you want to hold one of them?” I nodded, and reached out of Alith. “Just under the head like that… yes, and on her back—there you go.”

A mix of fear and completely unconditional love washed over me as I held my daughter. I’d never felt such a strong desire to protect something the moment I met it, but as I looked down at Alith and Kerrigan, I wanted to do everything I could to make sure they’d never be hurt by anyone.

“Valka?” My mother turned around. “Would you like to hold Kerrigan? She’s your granddaughter, after all.” She nodded and took the baby from Reign’s arms, giving her a moment to rest.

“Hi,” I whispered, watching my daughter stir slightly, kicking her tiny legs in the air. “Hey. You don’t know this yet, but I’m your dad.”

“Trust me, she knows.” I glanced at Reign.

“How?” She shrugged.

“It’s just one of those things. Almost like an instinct.” I turned back to Alith.

“There is nothing I won’t do for you and your sister.” I sniffled, finding some tears welling up. “I love you both more than anything in this world.”

“Wha—hey!”

“You’re tied with your mother,” I corrected, rolling my eyes.

“I think we can bring the others in.” My mom nodded, and after handing Kerrigan back to Reign, went out to gather the others. They came in slowly and quietly, smiles on their faces as they caught a glance of the two little sleeping girls.

“Gang. Meet our latest Berkians.”


	4. Chapter 4

I watched the dragons retreat into their homes for the night, the new ones trying to find places to stay, before adjusting the sling around my neck and making sure I held my daughters securely against my chest. It had been a couple hours since the dinner incident, and Hiccup had yet to come home. He was likely still hiding out somewhere, waiting for everything to blow over before he came back. But no way in hell was I going to just let this slide. He’d been… oddly silent when I’d protested having another kid.

Keeping one careful hand on my daughters, I climbed up onto Shriek and had her fly slowly. It really shouldn’t be too hard to find a boy and his Night Fury among all other dragons, but Hiccup had a knack for disappearing when he didn’t want to be bothered. Unfortunately for them, I knew Hiccup like the back of my hand, and had a pretty good idea where they would have run off to. I steered Shriek toward an isolated cliffside that dipped down into the forests, and spotted a large, black dragon using the updrafts to glide as his rider inspected something, most likely a map, laid out on the ground.

“You’re getting pretty good at gliding on your own, bud,” he encouraged. Shriek let out a little roar, and Hiccup averted his gaze just as we landed.

“Oh! So _this_ is where you come to get away from Gobber,” I teased.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” As I hopped off my dragon, Toothless plopped something wet and sticky into my free hand. I looked down to see it was Hiccup’s prosthetic leg, and quickly threw it away in disgust. Toothless jumped up excitedly and flew off to chase it.

“Well, he’s right, you know.” I sat down beside him and shifted my daughters slightly to make sure they were comfortable. Hiccup quickly looked over at me in surprise.

“Really? You think you and I should have another kid already?” Internally, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, gods, no. We’re nowhere near ready for that.”

“No, that’s… That’s crazy.” I sensed the slight disappointment in his voice, so I reached into the sling and handed Alith to Hiccup. He smiled as he took one of his daughters and pressed her against his chest. He always held her like that, as close to him as possible.

“I mean he’s right about all this.” I used a hand to gesture to our home island.

“It does seem like the whole world knows about us now,” he sighed.

“Yep. And the more dragons we bring back here, the bigger a target we become.” Toothless dropped Hiccup’s leg at my feet again, still covered in Night Fury saliva. “Ugh.” Careful not to disturb Kerrigan, I reached over and tossed it for the dragon to chase. “I just wish there was some way to make them leave us alone.”

“There might be a way.” I looked over at Hiccup, curious, and he stuttered for a moment before launching into his explanation. “Dad used to talk about an old mariners’ myth—of a secret land on the edge of the world where dragons live totally out of reach.” I chuckled.

“Well, sailors _are_ known for tall tales.”

“True. But what if it’s real?” I shook my head at him. Of all the long shots he’d taken in his life, this was the biggest one. “It could be the answer to all of our problems.”

“How? By moving the dragons there?”

“Uh-uh. All of us.”

I blinked at him a few times, completely thrown off by his proposal. Of all the ideas he’d had in his life, all the times he’d taken a risk, this was somehow the craziest one. Sure, on any other day, I might agree to at least go and check things out, see if this place is real. But we weren’t alone in this relationship anymore. I couldn’t just keep leaving our daughters behind. Not to mention, if we just packed up and went, like I thought we were going to, what would be do with our daughters?

“Seriously? And abandon your home of seven generations? The home your father left you to protect; the home we said our daughters would grow up in?” He sighed. “Yeah, I think we need a real solution, Hiccup.”

The dragons chittered behind us, causing us to look back and watch as Toothless growled at Shriek when she attempted to get a little too close to his toy, better known as my husband’s leg.

“Well, we could just take Gobber’s advice and settle down, have another kid. That should fix everything,” he deadpanned. “But hey, if you’re having doubts about the gene pool of yours truly, I’m pretty sure Snotlout’s available.” I grimaced at him until a devilish comeback popped into my head.

“He only has eyes for your mom.” His eyes went wide as he let out an over-dramatic gasp, pretending to be hurt.

“Oh! Playing dirty now, huh?” He playfully nudged my shoulder with his own, refusing to loosen his grip on his daughter.

“You asked for it,” I taunted. “Looks like there might be another member of the Haddock family after all.” He quickly moved Alith into one of his arms and reached over, pulling Kerrigan and I against his chest.

“How dare you? That’s a low blow!” I tried to push away as I laughed, but he pulled me right back in. “No, no, you are not getting away!” Quickly, I reached around and grabbed onto his free arm, pulling it behind him until he caved. “Okay, okay. You win, you win.” I released and he shifted Alith back against his chest. “You always win.” I chuckled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“You knew what you were getting into.”

“Uh-huh. Right.”

My affectionate smile grew as I looked to my husband, sitting on my right with Alith in his arms. He clutched her tight against his chest, gently running one hand up and down her little back as he leaned his face against the back of her head. He almost looked as though if he let go, she’d never come back, though I suppose that’s how fathers are with their daughters. And I’m sure it helped that Alith was sound asleep in his grasp. Kerrigan, meanwhile, was wide awake. I had her leaned against my legs, which were propped up so I could look at her. Her tiny hands grasped my index fingers, and she turned into a giggling mess as I leaned closer to her and smiled, rubbing my nose against hers. Toothless has been curious about the twins since the moment they were born, but at the same time, seemed to know to keep a distance. We’d cross that bridge in a few years, but for now, Hiccup and I just wanted to spend time with our baby girls. They wouldn’t stay like this forever, after all…

“So we’re absolutely sure she’s blind?”

I turned back to Hiccup, who’d shifted his gaze to me as he scooted closer, now leaning against my side. I sighed and scooped Kerrigan up into one of my arms before turning Alith over in Hiccup’s so she was looking up at his face. In response to the change, her green eyes opened, revealing a cloudiness about them. She seemed to know her father was there, but only by touch.

“We’re sure. Gothi said she’ll eventually develop a sort of sense for where things are around her, but she’ll never be able to see.” Hiccup leaned down to kiss Alith’s forehead, then did the same to his other daughter. I looked at him again and sighed. Sure, things weren’t perfect. We hadn’t _planned_ on having twins, nor did we realize we were going to have them until that day, but we made it work.

A dragon called faintly in the distance, causing Toothless’ head to perk up. He stared off toward the woods beneath us, far more interested in this dragon call than any others on the island. His tail wagged back and forth before he jumped down and floated to the ground. I quickly brought the twins back into their sling as Hiccup put his leg back on, and we stared down at where he’d just gone.

“Uh, bud?” We couldn’t see him anymore. “What… Yeah, sure, don’t brother to wait for us.”

I laughed and scooted myself forward on Shriek, leaving room for him. He climbed on my Thunderdrum and wrapped his arms around my waist, making sure he wouldn’t fall off. We descended down under the cover of the trees as the sun completely slipped behind the horizon, giving the environment around us a sort of ominous feel. Shriek crept closer to the sound of the dragons purring, and suddenly stopped when we reached a clearing. Hiccup and I watched the scene before us in astonishment as we moved to duck behind two trees: a white dragon, looking almost exactly like a Night Fury, stood in the middle of a pile of leaves, watching as Toothless circled her curiously. At first, she wouldn’t let him near, hissing and snarling the moment he stepped out of what she determined to be his boundaries. However, slowly, he managed to get close enough, and she began to shake her head as her pupils dilated. She backed up a few paces, then accepted Toothless into her space. I tried to contain myself as their faces inched closer, her pupils dilating, until Hiccup snapped a twig beneath him. I looked over and glared at him as the white dragon’s pupils narrowed again and she jumped up, shooting a pink blast at the tree between us. Hiccup and I jumped out of the way, and the twins began wailing loudly, suddenly startled by the loud noise. I did my best to calm them as Hiccup emerged from his hiding spot, mystified.

“Oh, my gods.” I noticed the Light Fury crouch again, and my instincts suddenly took over.

“Uh, Hiccup!” As she fired again, I jumped forward to push the two of us away, pulling my daughters against my chest with one arm to make sure they wouldn’t be harmed. She snarled at us, and I gripped his arm as he attempted to sit up.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re… We’re friends. No need to kill us.” The white dragon scampered away before taking off. Toothless attempted to follow her, but without someone to control his artificial tail fin, he was out of luck. He watched hopelessly as she shot out a blast and… somehow disappeared into the night sky.

“Wow!”

“Another Night Fury.”

“No, not quite. It’s more like a… a Bright Fury.”

“Light Fury,” I muttered. Hiccup glanced at me and placed his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, yours is better, probably.”

Toothless growled before we called him down and headed home for the night. The twins, as usual, refused to fall asleep, screaming and whining as I secured them in their cribs. I sighed and pulled lightly on some of my hair before an idea popped into my head. Quietly, I began to hum I tune I’d heard long ago. They still cried and protested at first, but as I led into the words, they calmed down.

“ _The sky is dark and the hills are white as the Storm King speeds from the north tonight.”_ I heard the door creak open behind me. “ _And this is the song the Storm King sings as over the world, his cloak he flings.”_ A pair of arms snaked around my waist, and I looked to my left to see Hiccup rest his head on my shoulder. “ _Sleep, sleep, little ones, sleep. He rustles his wings and gruffly sings. Sleep, little ones, sleep._ ”

Thankfully, the twins were now sound asleep, completely still and content. I let out a sigh, glad I’d at least be able to get some sleep before they woke up in the middle of the night.

“Let’s get some sleep,” Hiccup muttered.

“Good idea.”


	5. Chapter 5

I opened my eyes as beams of sunlight warmed my cheeks, alerting me the next started. I’d gotten a surprising amount of sleep last night. Alith and Kerrigan only started crying two or three times, meaning I almost never had to get up. Hopefully, this meant they’d start sleeping through the night soon.

Groggily, I rolled over, met with a pair of vibrant, green eyes, watching my form with a tremendous amount of love. A smile spread across my face as I leaned forward and planted a kiss on his nose.

“Good morning, love,” he greeted, adjusting his arm draped across my waist.

“’Morning.” He leaned down and gently kissed me.

“Can’t we just stay here all day?” he whispered, bending down to kiss me again and again.

“As much… as I would… love… that… we have things we… have to do.” He suddenly rolled me over, and his lips moved to my neck. But there was no time for this.

“Mm... like what?” I scoffed.

“Like taking care of the kids and the dragons—what has gotten into this morning?” I pushed him away, and as we sat up, his hand rested on my cheek.

“Just… every time I see you, I remember how much I love you.” I rolled my eyes and pushed him away as one of the girls began to fuss in the next room over.

“You’re a dork… but I love you, too.”

I reached up and kissed his forehead before moving out from under him and moving to get the girls up and start the day. I changed them and brought them into my room to change before heading downstairs, where I found Hiccup had already gotten everyone’s food ready, including a little bit of mush for the girls. We finished up before heading to the stables and meeting everyone else there, getting to work as soon as we could. I did my best to be careful in my work so the girls wouldn’t fall out of their sling as Hiccup recounted the tales of last night.

“What do you mean ‘gone’?” Snotlout questioned

“Vanished. Into thin air.” Fishlegs made his way over and presented us with a drawing he’d done of the dragon, trying his best based on Hiccup’s description.

“What do you think?” He shook his head.

“Uh-uh. Stubbier ears. No dorsal plates.” Fishlegs took the card back to start over.

“Okay. Got it.”

“What a night,” Eret chuckled.

Toothless suddenly came up and nudged his rider, sticky Night Fury saliva falling from his mouth and onto Hiccup’s clothes, much to my displeasure. He bounced up and down eagerly, trying to convey something my husband just couldn’t understand.

“Bud, what’s gotten into you? What is all this slobbering and panting?” I made my way over to him.

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s in _love_.” I lilted my voice on that last word, trying to further drive the point into Hiccup’s head. His eyes widened, before he leaned closer to Toothless.

“Trust me, relationships are nothing but pain and misery.” Part of me knew he was joking, but I still reached down and whapped him on the back of the head for good measure, scoffing. “What did I just say? Am… Am I not enough?” Toothless bounded away again, heading toward a pair of Nadders performing their mating dance.

“I think that’s a ‘no’.” Fishlegs came back over with another drawing.

“What about this?” Hiccup sighed and shook his head.

“You know what? Just trace your Toothless card and make her white.”

“You could’ve led with that.”

“Can you believe it?” Hiccup looked back at me as I set a bucket down. “Toothless has a girlfriend.”

“I never took you for a romantic. Like, ever.” I smiled and made my way over, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“But it’s so sweet. I mean, look.”

Everyone grimaced as we watched Toothless perform the mating dance he’d just seen with his own shadow, as though trying to figure out the works before going to find the Light Fury. At first, it was bearable, until he nuzzled and began to lick the rock.

“Maybe ‘sweet’ isn’t the word I’m looking for.” I placed a hand on my hip, making sure to keep one underneath the sling.

“Okay, that’s just sad. And weird.”

“Yeah, you better do something.”

“Seriously? I’d rather shovel poop all day than watch that.” As Hiccup pulled a thorn out of the dragon’s foot, he shook his head and stood up.

“All right. Let’s head back to the woods and see if we can find her.” Toothless picked up his head excitedly and bounded away.

“Ah, good idea.” Before I could do anything, Tuff grabbed my husband’s shoulder and began to push him away. “A little privacy.”

“Uh…” 

“Shh. It’s boy talk.” Hiccup looked back at me, and I just shrugged. Just before they made their way out to the woods, he pushed away and came back over to me.

“I can take the girls.” I looked at him curiously. “What? I feel like I don’t spend enough time with them.”

“Are you sure?” The thought of passing my daughters off, even if it was to their own father, for even just a second made me nervous.

“Reign, I promise they’ll be safe with me.” I scoffed and shook my head at him.

“You’re going into the woods with one dragon to find another dragon that tried to kill us last night.”

“Uh, well… I mean, _technically_ …” he stuttered, trying to dig himself out of that hole. Though I was still wary, I reached around and moved the sling off of my body, passing off my daughters to him. I watched as he walked away, already feeling more anxious the further away they got.

“Reign?” I turned around to face Astrid’s calming presence. “Take a deep breath. They’ll be safe with their father.”

“I know, I know,” I sighed. “I just… they’re my daughters, and Hiccup tends to get into trouble. The dangerous sort of trouble. And when a wild dragon is involved—“

“Okay, we’re going to talk about something else to take your mind off this.” Valka had wandered in not long before Hiccup left, and moved closer to me when Astrid attempted to change the subject.

“I know Gobber made you both uncomfortable yesterday with the…” She cleared her throat awkwardly, “other child business. But you know he comes from a genuine place.” I shook my head and fed the two Nadders Toothless had been watching earlier.

“I just… I’m not ready for that yet. We’re not ready yet. Like Gobber said, we have to settle down first. Not to mention, I just gave birth to twins less than a year ago. And besides, I can’t control what gender kid I have. It’s a fifty-fifty toss up.” She chuckled and pet a Terrible Terror that approached her. “I mean, yes, I’d love to have a little boy, just not so soon.”

“Hiccup understands that, but the way his eyes light up when he talks about your girls… it’s something unique. I can tell he wants another, but he wants to wait for you.”

“He’ll have to wait whether he likes it or not. We’re closed until further notice.” Val laughed, and for a moment, things were genuine.

“Are you sure you just don’t want another kid with Hiccup?” I whipped around and stared at Ruff, unamused.

“What on _earth_ are you talking about?”

“I mean, he’s kind of awkward. Those legs on another human? That just seems like torture. Not to mention if they got his voice, or awkward limp—“

“He has a prosthetic leg,” I interjected. “And I wouldn’t have a) married him, or b) had 2 daughters with him if I didn’t love all of those things.”

“It wasn’t just a lapse in judgement?”

“Ruffnut!” I glanced at Astrid and nodded.

“Everything that’s happened, I’m glad it has. I just don’t want to rush off into anything else before I’m ready.”

“Which is perfectly respectable.” Only now did I notice Snotlout and Fishlegs had made themselves scarce, abandoning their duties in favor of giving us privacy.

Dang it.

With my jobs in the stables taken care of, I made my way to Gobber’s to help him and Eret out. They’d been working on saddles for all the new dragons, and needed extra help, so I’d volunteered to offer some assistance.

“Ah, Reign! Welcome.” I smiled at Eret. “What can I do for the chieftess?”

“Stop that,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes. “And I’m here to help out.” Almost immediately, Gobber threw an apron into my hands and sent me to work. “Speaking of which.” I started on outlines on the leather for saddles.

“Where’d your husband run off to?”

“Ah, he went into the woods with Toothless to try and find that Light Fury. Took Alith and Kerrigan, too.” Eret glanced at me.

“And you let him?”

“Oh, trust me. I was hesitant. But, I mean, he’s their father, and I’d like to think he’s gotten a bit more cautious since they came around. What could really—“

My eyes moved up to see Hiccup and Tuff rushing toward the smithy, something shiny in Hiccup’s hand. I immediately threw my apron off and approached the two of them. I checked on my little girls to make sure they were okay, and thankfully, that sat perfectly fine in their slings, awake and babbling.

“Someone’s here.” He set the object down on a table, revealing it to be a dart.

“Huh?”

“He managed to slip past our scouts and lay a trap in the woods.”

“It ruined boy talk.” Tuff picked up the dart and chucked it behind him, piercing a crate Eret was carrying.

“Let me at him!” Gobber lunged forward, but I help my arm out to keep him from charging.

“Slow down, Gobber. Let’s get a search team on the ground, scouts in the air.” I nodded. “Toothless and I will fly the coastline.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t advise taking Toothless anywhere, chief.” We both turned to Eret, who was carefully inspecting the dart. “Grimmel the Grisly. Famous back where I’m from. The smartest dragon hunter I’ve ever met. Well, next to me, of course.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“That’s really not something to brag about around here.” 

“He can’t be that smart. He left his trap unmanned.” Eret laughed sarcastically.

“Nothing’s accidental when it comes to old Grimmel. He lives for the hunt, to get inside the mind of his prey. To control its every choice. It’s all a game to him.”

“Well, he doesn’t know who he’s playing with.” I smirked, confident.

“Yeah. We’ve dealt with his kind before.” Eret shook his head, expression still somber.

“Don’t underestimate him, Hiccup. Mark my words. He’ll be back.” We glanced at each other, and I nodded. Eret could say all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he just sounded like another Vigo*.

“Then we’ll be waiting for him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Vigo—for those of you that don’t know, he’s who I would call the primary villain of Race to the Edge.


	6. Chapter 6

I stumbled my way down the stairs, using the vague light of the candle in the living room to guide me. Sighing, I watched as Hiccup frantically scanned over some notes, laid out on a map. I’d gone to bed quite a few hours ago, but he’d never taken a moment to settle down. Something told me he was taking what Eret had said earlier a little more seriously than he had led on.

“All right. All right, come on, give me a clue here. Give me a clue, Dad.” I sighed.

“Hiccup?” He turned around for a second, acknowledging me before getting back to his work. “You need to take a break, love.” I made my way closer and sat down beside him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell me to stop and sleep.” I shook my head and reached out, running my left fingers through his hair.

“I know there’s no stopping you when you have your mind set on something. But you at least need to take a break. Working non-stop like this isn’t good for you.” He didn’t respond, instead bending further over the books and maps, completely ignoring my warning. Boards creaked above us as I sighed. “Babe, I’m serious.” He’d completely tuned me out at this point.

Careful not to move anything around, I leaned over and kissed his temple. I saw his eyes briefly flash in my direction, but nothing else changed. So I kissed just beneath where I had before, then his cheek, then a little lower, then just along his jaw.

He let out a sigh—I wasn’t sure whether it was frustrated or not—and turned toward me. He dropped his writing utensil and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. My hands rested on the nape of his neck as I kissed him, glad I’d at last finally distracted him. Maybe I could get him to stand and get something to drink…

“What’re you doing?” he smirked as he asked his question, leaning his forehead against mine.

“Distracting you.” He chuckled before leaning back in again. I let out a content sigh, savoring the rare moment we had together. I loved my daughters, but sometimes it was nice to just get to be with Hiccup.

“Well, you’re certainly doing a great job at that.”

My heart jumped suddenly as something tapped behind us. Suspicious, I pushed away from Hiccup and placed a finger over his lips, waiting to hear it again. This time, instead, there was the sound of liquid pouring. My head whipped around to see a figure in the darkness, just watching us while he poured himself a drink. Who _knows_ how long they’d been in here, or how they got in. Cautiously, I peeled myself from Hiccup, and the two of us stood, staring down an old man in dark clothes.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind if I help myself?” He had a strong accent, his facial expressions completely unaffected by the fact he’d just broken into someone’s house and was now acting like he was a friend. “This is, mmm, quite good.” Hiccup yanked his sword from the sheath and ignited it. “That is impressive. But let me finish my drink.”

I glanced over in Toothless’ direction, making sure he was still safe. Unfortunately, that tipped the person off to his presence, and he whipped out a crossbow, firing a small dart right into Toothless’ neck. It started to dawn on me just who he was as Hiccup called back to his dragon.

“Toothless!” Hiccup rushed over to check on him as I stood my ground, prepared to lunge at him should things get out of hand. “What did you do to him?”

“Eh. Nothing he won’t sleep off.” I straightened up slightly, resting one hand on Hiccup’s free arm. The man made his way over to what had been Stoick’s chair and sat down in it casually, causing my blood to boil. “May I? Chief Hiccup, hmm? Do I say Chief…” He pretended to hiccup. “Or do I call you Hiccup? What do you prefer?” Neither of us said a word. “You must be Chieftess Reign.” Hiccup and I kept our mouths shut, waiting for him to move on. “You two have no idea who I am, do you?” He chuckled. “Well, your father knew of me.” Hiccup’s face faded into sadness for a moment, before he stiffened again. “Now, there was a chief. One of the greatest dragon hunters to have ever lived. What would he think of you?” He laughed to himself again, as though the death of a great man were so amusing. “He had it right, you know. Making it his mission to destroy the beasts, so that you could grow up in a better world.”

“He changed his mind.”

“And look where that got him.” My fists clenched. How _dare_ he? “So, let’s get to the point. I am the Night Fury killer. I’ve hunted every last one but yours. You are going to give me that dragon, or I will—“

“I will _never_ give him up.” He laughed and stood up from the chair, pushing Hiccup’s sword aside as though it _weren’t_ on fire. 

“You wish dragons to live free among us like equals?” He circled the two of us—his prey in this twisted narrative. “A toxic notion, my boy. History has shown that we are the superior species. What if word of your misguided ideas were to spread? It would be the undoing of civilization as we know it.” His eyes wandered down to Toothless’ tail, and as a suspicious look crossed his face. He kicked it, causing Fishlegs to sit up in his disguise, dazed.

“Did we get him?” he slurred before collapsing back down again.

Hiccup lunged forward, using his sword to remove the crossbow from Grimmel’s hand.

“Now!” Astrid, Valka, and Gobber jumped down from the rafters, and Astrid tossed me my sword. I gripped it firmly, staring down the man before us. The twins were safe with Eret once again, and although we had to reveal ourselves earlier than expected, things still didn’t look too dire.

“Sorry to barge in.” Hiccup suddenly pushed his sword into Grimmel’s face.

“You think you can come into my home, sit in my father’s chair, and threaten my dragon?” He took another step closer, pushing the flames nearly an inch from Grimmel’s face. “This is Berk. And we have defended our way of life from _far_ worse than you.” The towering man in front of us smirked, as though some inside joke bounced around in his brain.

“Ooh. A fighting spirit. I love it, only…” His expression suddenly dropped, staring the two of us down with poison eyes. “I’m afraid you are mistaken. You have never seen anything like me.”

With those chilling words, he turned around and whistled to the ceiling. A green, smoldering liquid began to drip through the cracks in the boards, causing them to completely come apart and allow two large, snapping dragons to fall down. Their roars were closer to screams as the house lit ablaze, embers and smoke enveloping us. The moment I saw the pieces of wood began to split, I dove toward Hiccup, knocking him to the ground and shielding his body from the falling splinters. My head immediately shot up again, only to see one of those dragons heading right for Astrid.

“Astrid, look out!” I cried. 

The dragon revealed a poisoned spike on the end of its tail and brought it down, barely missing her body. Another one opened its mouth and spat out a sickeningly green acid. Valka stuck up her shield to defend Hiccup and I.

“Have my dragon ready when I return, or I will destroy everything you love.” A piece of the house’s foundation suddenly collapsed, forcing us to run. It was a good thing I’d passed the twins off [after dinner tonight](http://x-apple-data-detectors//0).

Outside looked no better, however. Yellow and orange consumed nearly every wooden structure in sight, save for the Great Hall in the distance. People’s shouts and commotion rang loud and clear as they scrambled to get to the one place still safe. I felt Hiccup’s hand slip into mine, and I gave him an affirming squeeze before looking to the others. Everyone appeared to make it out okay, or at least alive. Fishlegs didn’t really seem all that with it, but that was understandable. We all made our way toward the Great Hall, organizing ourselves around the table to call a meeting. I already knew what Hiccup was thinking, and whether I liked it or not, I was going to support him. 

A strange sense of security came over me as Eret placed my daughters’ sling around my neck, not uttering a word. Those far from the conflicts seemed confused, whispering to each other and complaining about the late hour. Thunder rumbled in the distance, bringing bright flashes of lightning that illuminated each cloud in the night sky. The rain had already begun to douse flames, keeping them from enveloping the entire island. 

“All right. All right, everybody. Settle down, please.” Conversations died down slightly, but a few confused and protesting whispers managed to slip through. “Fishlegs.” The sturdy Viking groaned quietly in response, still out of sorts from the tranquilizer. “Have you ever seen that species of dragon before?” He sat up and attempted to speak, but after a few pathetic whimpers, fell backwards and went right to sleep.

“Let me at him!” Spitelout shouted from the crowd.

“I’ll give him a piece of my mind!” another Viking challenged. “And by mind, I mean fists!” A few people around him cheered.

“Did you miss the part where we almost died?” Hiccup scoffed. He seemed shocked at what these people were focusing on, but I’d gotten to know their habits over the years. “Have you seen my house?” People finally fell silent. “This is a new kind of enemy. And I underestimated him. Now that’s on me. But I will _not_ do that again.” Snotlout slammed his hands down on the table.

“We’re Vikings! We don’t run from a fight. At least, I don’t. You might.” He tapped Eret, clearly trying to demean him for some reason.

“I agree with Hiccup.” He completely ignored Snotlout’s hostility. “We haven’t seen the last of Grimmel. He’s a predator. Single-minded and patient. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants.” My eyes flickered over to my husband’s form. I hoped, in all of this, he’d remembered what we’d talked about on the cliffs.

“I’m with Eret.” Snotlout’s chair scraped as he stood, staring at my mother-in-law with awe, as though appalled with the idea she could agree with anyone but him. “We have to take this threat seriously.”

“Grimmel is just a sign of the times.” I shook my head. “Our enemies are getting smarter, more determined. We’re not just overcrowded, we’re exposed and vulnerable. Short of full-blown war and risking everyone we love, I don’t…” He paused for a moment, as though suddenly realizing the weight of what he’d be proposing. “I don’t see how we can stay here.” 

Uproarious protests overtook the calm words uttered beforehand. People weren’t afraid to voice their displeasure, despite the danger they would be in if they chose to continue living here.

“What would Stoick think of this?”

That was enough for me. Hiccup was their chief now, and whether they agreed with his decisions or not, they should at least listen. They _certainly_ shouldn’t compare him to his father, not when he had his own doubts. I yanked out my sword with my free arm and stabbed it into the wood of the table, startling everyone into silence.

“Hey! Hear him out!” Hiccup looked at me and offered a small nod of thanks—a gesture I returned with a wink.

“If we want to live in peace with our dragons, we need a better plan.”

“So what are you saying, Chief?” The fact that Gobber couldn’t see where this was going alarmed me slightly.

“I’m saying we have to disappear, off the map. Take the dragons to a place where no one will find them.” 

“And where might that be?”

“He’s talking about a quest for the Hidden World,” I sighed.

“The hidden what?”

“Out to lunch,” Ruffnut mocked, spinning her fingers near her head.

“Yeah.”

“My father was obsessed with it when I was a boy. He made notes and maps in search of the ancestral home of all dragons, tucked away somewhere beyond the edge of the world. It may be the solution we need.” He paused for a moment, his eyes falling over his daughters and myself before addressing the crowd again. “We are dragon people. It’s where we belong.” Grumbles began to rise again. “Look, I know this is our home. My father left me to protect it. But I have more to protect now than just an island.” As he looked at us again, his eyes grew slightly misty. “I have two daughters and a wife I need to make sure are safe. And I trust Reign whole-heartedly to help protect them and herself, but there’s only so much I can do when we’re under attack by someone far stronger than us. Besides, Berk is more than this place. We are Berk: the people, the dragons. I say Berk is wherever we go.”

Silence fell over the room, no one daring to speak up. Hiccup’s expression fell as he realized the people likely wouldn’t agree with him, in favor of saving their home of seven generations. They weren’t used to change, and clearly didn’t want it.

“I’m with him!” Tuffnut suddenly shouted. “Who else?”

He certainly didn’t receive the rousing agreement he probably expected, but enough people either nodded or mumbled a ‘sure’ for us to start packing up what little we had left and get going. The dragons were packed up, Hiccup had nearly forced me to ride on Toothless with him, insisting I should be able to sleep, and everyone else had already climbed onto their dragons. I placed one foot in the foothold to boost myself up, then suddenly hesitated and stepped back down. 

“Babe? Is everything okay?” I shook my head, pulling my daughters tighter against me. Hiccup jumped down and made his way closer to me, placing his hands on my arms.

“Are they gonna be okay traveling that far?” His eyes flickered down to Alith and Kerrigan, awake but unaware of what was happening. “I mean, we don’t even know if what we’re looking for exists. I know I supported you back there, but that’s because no one else was. I don’t know if…” I trailed off, shaking my head.

“Hey, hey, they’re going to be just fine,” he assured me, leaning forward and resting his forehead on mine. “We’re going to keep a very close eye on them, and I’ll make sure we try and stop as often as possible so we can take care of them. Okay? I promise you they’ll be safe. And once we find the Hidden World, we won’t have to do this again.” I sighed. 

“Fine. Let’s get going before Grimmel comes back.” I took his hand, and once the four of us were secured on Toothless’ back, we led the charge away. My eyes looked back at our home one last time before it became a speck, a piece of my life I’d remember, but never return to.


	7. Chapter 7

My eyes fluttered open as sunlight warmed my cheek. I had slumped over onto Hiccup's back and fallen asleep at some point after we left Berk, and when I looked down and around us, there was no land in sight. Hiccup must have felt me shift, because he turned around and smiled at me, then leaned forward and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"Good morning, m'lady." I chuckled and shook my head, then extended my arms out. "What?"

"My daughters?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"You mean _our_ daughters. I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with them recently, so I've been enjoying flying with them."

I sighed, but relaxed my arms and wrapped them around Hiccup's waist, trusting him with the girls for a little while longer. I took the chance to look around at everyone as we soldiered on. A group of dragons carried a boat with all our sheep in it, disguised as dragons in case some wild dragons came along and got close enough to see them. We were a large hoard, completely obvious and not hidden-- which was why we needed to move fast.

"Excuse me! Coming through!" I watched as Fishlegs and Meatlug pushed their way through all the other dragons and their riders. The sound of Fishmeat loudly growling and whining. "Let me just get right through here. Fishmeat, look! Eat your rocks. Eat your rocks."

"Gods! People who fly with babies are the worst!" Snotlout cried. I whipped my head around and glared at him, lunging forward slightly.

"Hey!" I snapped, staring him down for a moment longer before turning back to Hiccup. I didn't have to say a word, he just knew to hand the girls back to me at that moment. I pulled them closer against my chest and smiled as Kerrigan opened her green eyes. Her chubby arm reached up and grasped the silver necklace Hiccup had given me what seemed like ages ago. I let her play with it until she started to pull, and I removed her hand from the precious object.

"I feel like I'm always asking you this question, but--" Gobber cried out as Grump suddenly dropped. "Whoa! Wake up, Grump! Wake up!" They caught up with us again. "Is there an actual plan, or...?" Hiccup drew his eye away from his spyglass, scanning the horizon for some sort of clue as to where the Hidden World might be, or the place itself. 

"Just keep flying until we reach the end of the world." Hiccup still managed to sound optimistic.

"Ah. Seems sensible," Gobber deadpanned.

"It just keeps going," Snotlout whined, leaning back against his saddle.

"That's because the world is actually round." I scoffed as everyone else laughed at Tuff's insane idea. Everyone knew the earth is flat. That was just a cemented fact at this point. "The sun's round. The moon's round. Stars are round. Even though they're small and stupid."

Shriek flew closer to me and nudged my side. I leaned forward and planted a kiss on Hiccup's shoulder before sliding carefully down onto my dragon. Toothless' nose suddenly began to twitch wildly, and his pupils severely widened.

"What you picking up on, bud?" Hiccup asked, leaning down and patting his dragon. Toothless' head moved around furiously, looking for whatever he could smell. My eyes flashed up, and I spotted something white with bright blue eyes emerge from the clouds.

"The Light Fury!" I gasped, a smile spreading onto my face.

"She's following us!" I glanced back at Val. Hope flashed across her features as she watched the Light Fury float up and down, almost appearing to smile at us. She pushed forward, getting in front of our group, then shot out one of her pink blasts and disappeared.

"Would you look at that," Gobber marveled. 

"Where'd she go? Is she made of sky?" Toothless suddenly sped forward, tracking her scent as he tried to locate her. They flew well above the cloud cover, to the point where we couldn't see them any more, but I knew they were there. Alith stirred slightly against my chest, and I leaned my head down, kissing her forehead gently and sending her back to sleep.

I looked up again at the sound of screams, and watched as Hiccup suddenly started plummeting from up above. Panicking, I secured my arms around Shriek, and was about to force her to speed toward him, when Toothless shot down and caught Hiccup just in time. Everyone else laughed as I slowly eased myself up, trying to calm myself down. 

"Not a word," Hiccup grumbled. I brought Shriek closer to him and Toothless, and Alith suddenly laughed, as though she somehow knew what happened. Hiccup made a face in her direction, then suddenly reached over and scooped her into his arms. She giggled again as he leaned his face in closer to her and rubbed his nose against hers, before bringing her against his chest and securing an arm around her. Alith's laughter died down, and she soon fell back asleep, safe and sound in her father's arms.

Just as my stomach rumbled, the clouds cleared and gave way to a large island, heavily stacked above the sea with towering mountains and what appeared to be low beaches. Should it be inhabitable, it might be the perfect place to set up camp for a few days, or at least establish as a base while Hiccup and I continued to look for the Hidden World.

"Potty break!" Fishlegs cried, _almost_ reading my mind.

Everyone steered toward the grassy land ahead, getting off their dragons following hours of flight. I felt blood rush back into my legs as I stood up, relieved despite the fact I'd been asleep for most of the flight so far. My eyes moved toward Hiccup, who pat his dragon before making his way over to me. Carefully, he rested Alith back in the sling before wrapping an arm around my waist. I moved my hand to the middle of his chest and leaned my head against him, sighing contently. 

"All right. Looks like we're camping here for tonight."

"Well, thank Thor for that!"

"Yes! My own place!" Tuffnut cheered. "I plan to build a hut. Only for the bearded. Ruffnut, you gotta stay out. Chin whiskers don't count."

"I see a tower of manliness in the shape of me. It's gonna be taller than Eret, with bigger muscles." I shook my head and looked up toward Hiccup.

"We should set up some sort of lodging soon. Alith and Kerrigan are going to need to sleep soon, and they really can't do that for long in the sling." Hiccup kissed the top of my head, then started to look around, drawing my attention to the other people. They were all buzzing about, looking as though they were getting ready to build a new village.

"Hold on, gang. I... I said make camp," Hiccup stuttered, trying to get people's attentions. "Not make a new village."

"Who died and made you chief?" Everyone groaned at Snotlout's unfortunate question, while I pried myself from Hiccup and marched over to him. With a surge of anger, I kicked the barrel beneath him, causing Snotlout to stumble before crashing down onto his face. Smirking, I took my original place and allowed Hiccup to continue.

"Granted, this place is very nice, but it's not the Hidden World."

"We don't even know if the Hidden World exists," someone challenged. 

"Yeah. This place is real."

"Yeah!" The two of us began to falter as Valka approached us from behind.

"Eh, there's nothing more stubborn than a mob of tired, hungry Vikings." Hiccup chuckled at his mother's words.

"Well, I guess this can work as a base in the meantime. It's defensible, hidden." He turned back to the group. "All right. You can stay."

"Say hello to New Berk!" Gobber shouted. The rest of the group cheered, finally getting their way. I rolled my eyes, but had to admit I felt a sense of relief knowing we'd be able to at least give the girls a place to stay for a while.

"Until Toothless and I find the Hidden World." People groaned and moved away, slightly disappointed, as Tuff suddenly pulled Hiccup away from me. Annoyed, I followed after them.

"Now, about that voice. Can we lose the whole 'honking goose' thing? It's hard to imagine a happy family with that going off every minute." I scoffed and yanked my husband away from his newest source of a low self-esteem. 

"Tuff, are you kidding me?" That shooed him away, and Valka approached us again.

"If you're going to continue west, I should head back to make sure we weren't followed," she suggested.

"Great idea!" Snotlout suddenly interjected. "I'll go with you for protection." Valka's expression suddenly dropped into one that almost appeared panicked.

"No!" she spat. "You're... far too important here."

"Yeah." Satisfied, Snotlout walked away from us.

"Just be careful," Hiccup warned her. Her mouth opened for a moment, as though fishing for the right words. "What?"

"This plan to hide us from the rest of the world... Though... Though I wish it were possible, I fear it can't last, Hiccup. I mean, you know I tried to do the same for years. But greedy humans always find a way. I just... I only ask that you think about it." She pat him on the shoulder before walking toward Cloudjumper. Spirits dampened, Hiccup wrapped both his arms around my waist and leaned his cheek against the top of my head.

"Do you still think I'm crazy, or..." I sighed and looked up at him, staring straight into his bright green eyes.

"Let's just say, this whole idea is very you." He shook his head, but still smiled at me.

"Well, thanks for supporting me last night. It meant a lot." I smirked.

"Don't thank me yet. I just hope you're right about this." 

I reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, then pulled him into a kiss. With a sigh, Hiccup pulled away, keeping one arm wrapped around me as we moved to start unpacking our things.


	8. Chapter 8

I let out a deep sigh and blinked against the darkness, wanting to close my eyes and just drift off to sleep. My daughters, thankfully, had slept through the night, but I couldn’t say the same. Sleeping conditions had ended up being a little tight with the crib, so Hiccup, Toothless, and I ended up having to cram in close together. Toothless tried his best to give us room by laying on his side, while Hiccup had laid down beneath me. His arms were secured tightly around my waist as he slept soundly, oblivious to the fact his wife hadn’t been able to do the same.

But he wouldn’t be asleep much longer. The sky had just begun to take on a deep blue color, indicating that the sun would soon peek over the horizon, when Toothless suddenly shot up, knocking Hiccup and I to the ground. His eyes snapped open a split second before we hit the dirt, and his hand snaked up behind my head, cushioning my fall slightly. He groaned in frustration, refusing to move at first.

“Toothless! No, it’s too early,” he whined, slurring his words slightly, since he’d just been jarred from his sleep. Toothless bounded out of the tent, clearly following something he either heard or smelled. I shook my head and tried to push Hiccup up so we could follow him. He looked down at my face a moment, and it contorted slightly. “Did you sleep?” I shook my head. “Maybe you should stay here and get some rest.”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I’ll go to sleep after we follow Toothless… wherever.”

Shaking his head at me, Hiccup pushed himself off the ground and extended his hand down to me to help me get up. Hiccup made his way over to the twins’ crib and scooped them up while I tied the sling around my neck. I watched as he looked down at them for a moment, affectionately smiling at their sleeping faces. My heart did a funny sort of flutter in my chest as I watched them. Hiccup’s lips twitched into a smile as he leaned down and kissed each of their foreheads. With a sigh, I approached him and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my cheek against his arm.

“Come on, we have to follow Toothless,” I muttered.

Hiccup sighed and delicately placed each of the girls in their sling, and with a yawn, opened the flaps of our tent and looked around. Toothless had long ducked out of sight, leaving us at a loss.

“Which way did he go?” he whispered. I looked around, trying to spot some sign of the large dragon walking around. Off in the distance, I heard the cry of a Night Fury. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, then rushed off toward the source. We made our way to a cliff side, crouching down so we wouldn’t be seen. Down on the remote beach, Toothless and the Light Fury sat opposite each other, staring as one of them waited to make the first move. The two of us tried our best to stay out of sight as we watched them.

The Light Fury spread her wings and began to delicately prance in a circle, never losing eye contact with Toothless before she settled back down into the sand, purring curiously. Toothless blinked at the female dragon, then looked up toward Hiccup and I, as though asking for help. Hiccup’s eyes moved to me, and after I shrugged, he sat up a little bit and started flapping his arms up and down, as though they were wings. Toothless began to flap his own, mildly at first. But then, he started to flap them harder, kicking up sand as the wind beneath his wings began to spin him in circles. Hiccup glanced at me, and we both grimaced before trying to get Toothless’ attention again. He stood and started to flap his arms up and down while moving his legs in an odd way. I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing, when Hiccup’s metal leg suddenly came down on a twig, snapping it. Our eyes widened, and I wrapped an arm around Hiccup’s waist before yanking him down. Thankfully, the Light Fury didn’t seem to see us, and slowly, we peeked back up again to see she’d gone back to focusing on Toothless.

He started flapping his wings again, this time more furious than the last. Sand flew into the air, shooting in all directions. Toothless seemed pleased with himself, until he got a little too close to the Light Fury. He suddenly stopped short to keep from crashing into her, but caused sand to fly into her face. She sneezed and glared at him, unamused with his attempts at flirting. Toothless looked up at Hiccup and I, and while my face landed in my palm, Hiccup offered the dragon a thumbs up before standing and performing some sort of imitation mating dance. Toothless mimicked his rider, but that meant standing up on his hind legs and dancing around. The Light Fury looked at him with a mix of confusion and fear. He paraded around her a few times, and when he realized that wasn’t working, stopped short and ducked down. He began to frantically imitate the mating dance he’d seen the Nadders doing in the stable, while adding in his own… flair. Hiccup and I watched, dumbfounded, as he somehow dipped further and further into the madness of his dance. The Light Fury watched him bounce up and down and duck in and out of the curtain of his wings, until he got too close for comfort. She reached out her white paw and smacked him on the nose, getting him to back off. She fled up to the safety of a large branch, dangling from it like a bat as she closed her wings around her body.

Toothless glanced back at Hiccup and I momentarily before approaching the Light Fury, ear plates pinned back. He disappeared behind the rocks, then popped up again on the branch. He looked up in our direction, pointing his wing at the white dragon. The closer he got to the Light Fury, the more the branch began to sag. I hissed as it creaked, bending to his weight more and more. He looked up at us and purred, cocking his head to the side. Hiccup placed two of his fingers on his other hand, bouncing them up and down and shaking his head. Despite the clear warning of what not to do, Toothless began to bounce himself up and down. The Light Fury began to flail her legs and squeal, protesting what Toothless was doing. Unfortunately, the Night Fury inadvertently ignored her. The branch suddenly snapped, just like Hiccup tried to warn Toothless, sending him tumbling back down onto the sand. Hiccup waved his arms around haphazardly as Toothless continued to stare up at the Light Fury. He remained completely oblivious to his rider’s attempts at getting his attention, instead diving for the piece of the branch that he had knocked down. He picked it up in his teeth and started to drag it through the sand, creating lines and curves in the white grains. Slowly, the Light Fury opened her wings and peered out, curious as to what Toothless was doing. He erased a piece of his drawing with his tail as she climbed down, cocking her head and staring at the drawing. Toothless stepped back for a moment, assessing his work before adding one, final touch. I smiled as I looked down at Toothless’ drawing of the Light Fury.

“Oh, _now_ you can draw.” I reached over and playfully smacked Hiccup on the back of his head.

The Light Fury took a step forward, right onto a line from Toothless’ drawing. His eyes suddenly narrowed and he growled at her, but instead of backing down, the Light Fury did the same. He held the gaze for another moment, before leaning back and dropping his stick. Subconsciously, my hand reached out for Hiccup’s and he laced our fingers together as a proud smile crept onto my face. The Light Fury made her way around the drawing of her face and approached Toothless. Both their pupils widened the closer she got, until their faces were nearly touching. They hesitated for a moment, then the Light Fury turned away, but this time, she seemed to be inviting Toothless to follow. She took to the air, flying in circles over the water. Toothless bounded over to the edge of the rocks. He called out and stood on his hind legs, as though trying to tell her he couldn’t fly on his own.

Suddenly, her gaze flicked up, and she glowered in Hiccup and my direction before turning and flying off again. Roaring, Toothless tried to fly after her, only to splash down into the water. My expression dropped, feeling a tremendous amount of guilt. As long as Hiccup and I were around, that Light Fury wouldn’t trust Toothless. 

My eyes flickered over to Hiccup, and I looked his face up and down. It only took one look for me to understand the expression on his face. Gently, I brought his hand closer to my face and placed a kiss on the back of it. He let out a sigh and forced a smile, but I knew the wheels of his brain were already turning. Without a word, we stood and made our way back to our tent, knowing Toothless could make his way back on his own. I passed the twins off to him, and before I laid down in an attempt to get some sleep, he kissed my forehead and smiled down at me.


	9. Chapter 9

After I'd finally managed to get a decent amount of sleep, I exited Hiccup and my lodgings to try and find him. Vikings and dragons buzzed about, getting to work now that the sun had come up and given us light. I wandered slowly, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun. I found Hiccup at a work station he'd set up at some point, meticulously bent over his project. I eyed the plans Hiccup had drawn out. It looked like he was trying to make an artificial tail fin that Toothless could control on his own. I smirked and moved closer to him, watching as he worked with one hand and kept the twins out of the way with the other.

"Oh. Looks like someone was productive while I was asleep." He briefly looked back at me, smiling.

"Yeah. Well, that Light Fury won't let us within a mile of her." I nodded

"That's very true." 

"And neither of us will be getting any sleep or finding the Hidden World until Toothless takes over." Toothless shot up eagerly and pushed Hiccup aside, looking through his magnifying glass at the tail fin. Hiccup and I chuckled, and I made my way over to where Toothless had been lying to pick up the scales he had shedded. "Hey! What do you think of that? Yeah."

Hiccup picked up the cup with the past we'd made to fireproof Hiccup's armor and extended it out to me. I placed the scales inside, and he began to grind them into a powder.

"You tried this once before. He didn't want it."

"Well, up until now, he didn't have a reason to. Right, bud?" I gagged slightly as Toothless spit into the cup, but that's how it became a space. I watched as he continued to mix the paste together, a smile crawling onto my face. He'd changed so much since I first met him, even since the girls had been born. The old Hiccup still showed at times, but this new him, the him ready to be a leader, gave me hope for the future.

His eyes bounced to me a few times, as though trying to figure out whether I was actually looking at him or not.

"What?" he chuckled.

"No, nothing. I'm-- I'm impressed. I mean, look at you, embracing change. I am proud of you." He grabbed the brush he'd been using to paint the tail fin and filled in the last few spots that had yet to be covered in the black mixture.

"Well, he's my best bud. I want him to be happy. And, besides, it's just until he brings her back."

Hiccup carefully picked up the finished tail fin with one arm, making sure not to hit our sleeping daughters slung around his neck. He quickly pecked the top of my head, catching me off guard and bringing another smile onto my face, then passed the sling off to me and stood in front of Gobber. He fanned open the tail and propped it up.

"All right. Fire when ready." Gobber cried out as Toothless shot a plasma blast at the tail, testing its fireproof abilities. The tail fin came away completely unscathed, Gobber had been coated in a thick layer of ash. Unamused, he licked his fingers to put out a smile fire on the hairs of his mustache.

"Well, at least you know the tail is fireproof." Hiccup froze in place for a moment, awkward and unsure of when to move. Once Gobber wandered away, Toothless bounded over to his rider and panted excitedly.

"Okay, Okay! I know, I know, I know." I giggled as I watched Hiccup struggle to keep Toothless still long enough to put his new tail fin on. "Shh. Okay, I know." Hiccup sat down on his dragon's tail and started to secure the straps. However, Toothless' excitement caused him to move his tail back and forth. "Please, this is not helping."

"Well, well, well." I turned my head to see Eret approaching, smiling at the scene in front of him. "Someone's excited." Hiccup sighed, unable to fight the smile on his face.

"He's fresh off his first date. Now he's love crazed."

"Only _we're_ the ones going crazy," Gobber complained. "The sooner he brings back that Light Fury, the better."

"Yeah. But to do that, he'll need to fly without me." Hiccup finished securing the tail and stood up, admiring his handiwork for a moment. "So, time to give this new and improved baby a shot." Toothless walked in a circle, eyeing the new tail curiously and chittering. "Attaboy. Looking sharp, Toothless. So, what do you think, bud?" Toothless flashed Hiccup his gummy smile, causing me to laugh. "Bring her home." He slipped into an impression of his dad. "By sundown at the latest."

Toothless cooed and nudged Hiccup's stomach, then jumped up and, somehow, hugged him. Hiccup must have taught him that, or maybe, he'd picked it up watching people over the years. Still, it was quite impressive, considering none of our other dragons demonstrated this level of intelligence.

"Ah, no! Save it for your girlfriend," Hiccup cried as Toothless licked him, getting Night Fury saliva all over his clothes. Go on, get out of here."

Excitedly, Toothless bounded away toward the thick of the forest, probably following the scent of the Light Fury. He got pretty far along the way, before he suddenly dug his heels into the ground and halted in his tracks. I moved to stand by Hiccup and placed my free hand on his arm. Toothless turned his head around, looking at Hiccup and I with big eyes, as though he wanted to make sure this was really okay. Hiccup smiled and nodded just enough for Toothless to see.

"It's okay."

With a renewed sense of excitement, Toothless bounded into the forest and took off, becoming smaller and smaller in the sky until the black dot of his figure finally vanished. Hiccup continued to smile for a moment, then realized everyone was watching him and I. For the first time, Toothless wasn't here anymore, and it started to dawn on him slowly. He almost seemed lost, as though he didn't know what to do without Toothless. I shook my head and laughed to myself, then turned my head toward Eret and called out to him.

"Hey, Eret?" He looked up at me and smiled. "Can you take the girls for a little while."

"Of course." He made his way over, and I carefully passed the sling to him.

Once my daughters had been passed off to their trusted sitter, I grabbed Hiccup's hand and turned him to face me. With a smile, I whistled for Shriek, and helped him up onto my dragon.

"What're you doing?" he asked as his arms snaked around my waist.

"We're going somewhere." I shrugged my shoulders and patted Shriek to get her to take off, steering her toward the alcove Toothless and the Light Fury had been in just hours later. Toothless' drawing was still etched into the sand, smiling up at the sky. Hiccup chuckled as I helped him down and led him over to the flat rocks right by the water.

Sighing, Hiccup and I sat down on the slightly slick surface. His arms wrapped around my waist, and I leaned my head against his cheek, sighing. These were the rare moments I cherished, ones we really didn't get any more. Between Hiccup taking care of Toothless and our daughters, we never had much time just the two of us. Not that either of those things had a negative impact on my life, quite the opposite. But having some time just the two of us always made me feel better.

"I guess the people have been planning a celebration for 'New Berk' tonight." The way he said 'New Berk' made me sigh. 

"Babe, I know you want to find the Hidden World, but... we can't bank everything on the chance that Toothless both finds it and comes back."

"I know, I know. The days of us just going out and exploring for hours on end are over." I shifted myself and laid my legs out over his. "And that's not a bad thing. It just takes some getting used to." I couldn't help but smile as I shook my head. "What?"

I leaned up and kissed his cheek gently.

"I love you," I sighed. "You've always had this desire for adventure, and I'm glad parenthood hasn't taken that away from you. The spontaneity doesn't have to be over, just... less often." He chuckled and brought my lips to his.

"I love you, too," he murmured. 

Then, suddenly, his arms swept under my legs, and he picked me up off the rock. A mischievous smirk crossed his face, and he started to move quickly toward the water.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, no!" I couldn't keep my laughter down. "Hiccup, I swear to Thor. My clothes are gonna get all wet and then I'm gonna come get you." I felt my body launch through the air. " _Hiccup!_ "

My body hit the cold water, falling underneath the surface before I managed to push myself back up. Hiccup was doubled over in laughter, quite amused with his own actions.

"How's that for spontaneous?" I'd have crossed my arms if I wasn't attempting to not drown by treading water. "Okay, come on." He extended his hand down to help me up-- a huge mistake. The moment my fingers wrapped around his hand, I pulled him down with me, causing him to fall head-first in. He gasped as he emerged, shooting me a look of feigned anger.

"There's no way you didn't see that coming," I laughed.

"I figured it would, but I wanted to take my chances."

I made my way over to Hiccup and wrapped my arms around his neck, chuckling to myself.

"You know, we're meant to be adults."

"So I keep hearing."

I shook my head before he leaned closer, catching my lips in his again. One arm moved from around my waist to gently rest on my cheek. Had Hiccup not been tall enough to touch the bottom, this would've been a lot more awkward. After a moment longer, I pulled away and looked up toward the alcove we'd hidden in hours ago.

"Come on. Let's get back to our daughters."


	10. Chapter 10

New Berk came to life the moment the sun set. People lit a giant bonfire in the middle of the dwellings, just far enough from tents so they wouldn't catch on fire from a random ember floating free. I'd smiled and allowed myself to be in the thick of it for quite a few hours, but after a while, Alith and Kerrigan began to fuss, and I knew I needed to put them in their crib for the night. Since we'd packed up quick, the twins only had one big crib they had to share. Carefully, I swaddled them up in blankets, then set them down on the sleeping pad Hiccup had made for them, filled with feathers. Sighing, I rested my hands against one of the wooden bars that held the posts together, smiling down at my two girls. They were always pretty quiet, but often taking in the world. They looked so peaceful now.

I heard the curtain to our tent rustle, and turned my head to see Hiccup standing there, looking at me with the sort of expression I could never define. It almost fell into a mix of love and pride, but something else always rested behind all that. I returned the warm expression, and he made his way over, then wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. His eyes floated down toward the twins, silently within their dreams. My hands drifted to his, letting out a content sigh and squeezing slightly. Neither of us dared to speak, not wanting to risk waking our daughters.

_Our daughters_. Something about that still felt slightly foreign, almost unreal. All of this could have been a dream, reflecting back on it. It all seemed too perfect to ever have happened. Sure, Hiccup and I had been through quite a bit, sometimes nearly forcing us apart, yet in the end, we still ended up here. This destination certainly made the journey worth it. Although, something told me we still hadn't arrived quite yet-- we just didn't know it.

Hiccup placed a kiss on my shoulder before speaking in the faintest whisper.

"If you want to get some sleep, I can keep an eye on them." I shook my head, my short hair brushing his cheek.

"I should at least make another appearance before we call it a night."

"I'm sure everyone will understand if you want to stay in here with the girls." I'm sure he felt the single, quiet exhale I let out.

"Really, Hiccup, it's fine. They've got Shriek looking after them." I gestured to my Thunderdrum, staring intently at the crib. Hiccup chuckled to himself before removing his body from mine and leading me out of our tent.

"Well then, Mrs. Haddock, let's go greet our people." I cringed slightly at the title, starting to feel old, but I didn't have time to dwell.

The people were still bustling, shouting, dancing, and, of course, drinking. Somehow, Hiccup managed to get lost in the thick of things, swept up by his people and carried over the crowd. I laughed as I watched him travel, the expression on his face uneasy. His hand flew to his mouth as he finally landed, grabbing onto Gobber's shoulder for balance. I raced over and helped try to support him, but I couldn't contain my laughter.

"Gotta say, thought you were well off your rocker," Gobber rambled, "but this spot ain't that bad."

"This was supposed to be a temporary solution," Hiccup groaned. 

"It's unanimous." Hiccup and I turned our heads to see Eret jumping over tables to make his way toward us. "Everyone agrees we've definitely traded up." He slugged Hiccup in the chest. "Nicely done." Hiccup chuckled nervously, not really sure how to respond.

"What if his tail broke?" 

My laughter dissipated as the cracks in Hiccup's armor started to show. He could distract himself for bits at a time, but his mind was racing, worrying about why Toothless hadn't come back yet. Part of me couldn't blame him, but I knew, somewhere within me, that him not coming back had always been a possibility. 

"What if Grimmel found him? What if he needs me?"

"Would you relax?" Gobber certainly didn't take the approach I would've. "He's probably having the time of his life."

"How would I know? She never comes around, and when she does, she's always rushing off. I'm saying how... how do we know if she's right for us." My chest dropped the more Hiccup spoke, drawing similarities between the Light Fury's situation and mine. We both came from somewhere else, introduced to Berk almost on some chance, a bit wild and untamed.

"Us?" I raised an eyebrow at Hiccup.

"You know what I mean. She's so wild and skittish." One glance at me, and he seemed to understand. "You're different. You trusted us from the start."

"Fair point," I shrugged.

"I'm just gonna say it: I don't trust her." Gobber laughed out loud, but it was a bitter, almost sarcastic laugh.

"You can't tame 'em all, Hiccup," he reasoned. "One day, you'll have to snip those apron strings, and let Toothless go. Reminds me of a talk I had with Stoick about you. _Gah_! Where do they keep coming from?"

Hiccup and I quickly whipped around, trying to follow Gobber's line of sight to what scared him. My eyes darted around, searching for the possible source of his fright, but spotted nothing.

"Who?"

"Those bloody Hobgobblers! I swear they're popping up faster than rabbits. I think they want to eat me. Evidence would suffice I'm tasty." He pointed toward an empty patch of grass. Hiccup and I looked at each other, shrugging before silently blaming it on too much to drink.

Out of nowhere, Tuffnut emerged from the bushes and pushed Hiccup away from me, absolutely no regard for the fact he and I had been walking together. I placed my hands on my hips and shook my head, following as he pushed him along and loudly insulted him.

"Hiccy, a moment?" I mouthed the nickname Tuff had given Hiccup, wildly confused. That... so did not sound right. "Listen, I've been watching you walk. Lost the limp. No one's gonna want more of that." My mouth fell open slightly. Was he seriously trying to tell Hiccup why I wouldn't have another kid with him?

"I have a prosthetic leg!" Hiccup argued, pointing to the metal appendage. 

"So have I." I rolled my eyes. It was almost as though they'd forgotten I was here.

"And I have a parasitic twin, but you don't see me limping around about it. Come on. Chin up, Hiccy. Puff out that chest. Move that butt to the left a little bit." I let out a burst of laughter, then clapped a hand over my mouth as Hiccup turned his head back. He playfully glared at me, shaking his head. 

Hiccup managed to get Tuff away from him, and I moved a little faster to catch up with him. He could already tell I was about to mess with him as I placed a hand on his lower back.

"Hon, not a word," he cautioned. I smirked at him, biting my lip to contain laughter.

"I would _never,_ babe. That would be completely unwarranted and inappropriate." As I said that, I moved my hand lower, causing him to jump and grab my wrist. He tried to look stern, but his laughter broke through his tough persona, as did the intense red of his cheeks.

"Hey!" he laughed, moving his fingers up to lace through mine.

The playful moment ended, however, when Valka and Cloudjumper landed in the middle of the festivities. She jumped off, searching around frantically for Hiccup and I. We quickly raced to her side, trying to support her.

"Mom, are you hurt?"

"What happened out there?" She removed her helmet and looked at us with such intense fear, a shiver traveled down my spine.

"I don't know how, but Grimmel is tracking us."

"Ah! This is all because of the Hobgobblers." I turned my head and glared at Gobber.

"He has one hundred ships, maybe more," she informed us frantically. "With enough cages for all of our dragons." My heart stopped for a moment. He had an armada... how could we not have assumed that?

Hiccup sharply exhaled, his eyes bouncing around as he processed the information. He seemed to come to a conclusion, but the look on his face alarmed me. It was moments like this when I wished I didn't know him this well.

"If Grimmel is leading them here, we have to take him out of the mix."

"Uh, and how would we do that?" I shook my head. Tuff had lost quite a bit of the little respect I'd had for him.

"By going there to capture him."

"Capture him?" A momentary silence settled over the group. "I'm with him! Who else?" Tuff's abrupt shout made me jump slightly.

I rested my forehead against the pads of my fingers, shaking my head. I wanted to argue with Hiccup, I wanted to tell him he was crazy, but I knew there was no changing his mind. My option was to go along with it and stay by him, even if he offered me another one. I'd made a promise to be by his side and defend him three years ago, and I wasn't about to break that over one battle.

"Eret!" He popped his head up, turning his attention to me. 

"Do you need me to watch the girls?" I shook my head.

"You're coming with us. Gobber, if you could keep an eye on them while we're gone, that'd be great." He nodded. Hiccup placed a hand on my shoulder, looking down at me curiously. I nodded, offering him a supportive smile.

"Everyone, get your armor on, meet back here in five. We'll form a plan of attack, but we can't waste much more time."

Everyone nodded, then rushed off to follow Hiccup's orders. We moved quietly into our tent, trying our best not to wake Alith and Kerrigan as we quickly changed, not caring about the suspicious scene our scattered articles of clothing made as we pulled on the uncomfortable armor. I secured my shield on my back and reached for my helmet. I was just about to pull it on, when my eyes fell on the crib. I hesitated, feeling a nervous pang in my chest.

"Reign?" 

My eyes fluttered up to meet Hiccup's as he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Is everything all right, baby?" I darted my eyes over to the wooden structure again, before I looked at him with desperation.

"Promise me you'll be careful," I spat out. He seemed taken aback at first, but eventually eased into a softer expression.

"We _both_ will be fine, Reign. We'll try our best with Grimmel, but if things get too dangerous, I promise we'll get out of there, okay?"

I swallowed nervously, but muttered an agreement. I managed to sneak one last glance at my daughters before slipping my helmet on and following Hiccup to the others.


	11. Chapter 11

I'd never seen this large of an armada before. The cover of night made the already threatening ships nearly heart-stopping. Their jagged shadows stuck up from the dark surface of the calm waters below, nearly poking us on occasion. Hiccup's hands rested on my shoulders, his body pressed firmly against my back as we sped toward where Valka was sure Grimmel was hiding out. Yellow light flooded out from a singular window carved into the fortress in front of us, cutting through the black and blue of night. Once we got close enough, Hiccup looked to me and nodded, then stood. Shriek's flat body allowed him to step forward and jump off her back. Once he touched down on the rock below, the rest of us landed our dragons. We'd have to keep them nearby, in the event of a quick escape, but they couldn't come in with us. If we could capture Grimmel here and now, we might be able to end this and move to the Hidden World safely... once Toothless found it and came back.

The rest of the group went to patrol on the ground, in case any person or dragon found out we were here, while Hiccup and I ascended a staircase. Not far above, I could hear someone pounding their tools against a surface, seemingly unaware of our presence at the moment. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, waiting for the source of the pounding to leave. It took a few moments, but finally, footsteps creaked across the boards, fading as they left the room we were under. Once Hiccup was sure they were gone, he activated his Inferno, and we stepped into the room. While he looked around, guard refusing to lower, my eyes wandered to a table where the person had been working. Vials of bright purple liquid rested on the wood surface.

What would someone use those for?

Suddenly, out of the silence, someone yanked on a chain, and a metal net fell over any means of escape. Hiccup and I started to run back down the stairs, hoping we could find some sort of crack we could squeeze through.

"Where's your dragon when you need him?" My blood ran cold as the two of us whipped around, spotting Grimmel down at the bottom of the stairs. He held a lantern in front of his face, casting contouring shadows across his smirk. "Hmm, chief?" Hiccup lifted the visor on his helmet, brows crinkled in anger as he glared down at the hunter. "Must've forgotten all about you. First rule of the hunt, separate the prey from its pack. _You_ just removed yourselves from the equation."

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded, leaning forward so far I danced between the line of standing and falling off.

"Really?" Grimmel's word held a condescending laugh. "I didn't think you cared. Well, unlike your husband, when I was a boy and came upon a Night Fury, I killed it where it slept. That simple act of courage made me a hero in my village. So I decided to kill every last one, bringing real peace to the people of the world." He whipped around, mocking expression replaced with anger. "Until you two came along, preaching that dragons are something other than thieves and murderers. That nonsense dies now, starting with you."

"But you have dragons of your own," Hiccup shot back. Grimmel laughed bitterly.

"These?" He rested a hand against one of the tusks of the Deathgrippers. "They're dragon killers, drugged into obedience with their own venom." I winced as Grimmel plunged one of the vials with a needle on the end into the dragon's neck. "Not even your precious alpha can control them. They serve me, and only me. Allow me to demonstrate."

Grimmel whistled once, and his whole lair suddenly went ablaze.

"Take cover." 

I wrapped my arms around Hiccup's waist and pulled the two of us onto the ground as one of the Deathgrippers spat acid in our direction. It nearly missed our heads, coating the chains holding up the bottom parts of the stairs. I yanked Hiccup back up and pulled the two of us higher up, watching as Val pried open the net with her stick. I jumped out toward the wall, grabbing onto some of the metal and heaving myself up to climb toward freedom.

"Up here!" Valka extended her hand down toward me, but just as I reached up, a Deathgripper lunged for me and tried to dig the spine on its tail into my torso. I let go with one arm, swinging to the side and just barely escaping the fatal injury. With its tail stuck, I jumped down and used it to land on and jump up to Valka. "Hurry." She reached down and started to help all of us up. I took a deep breath of fresh air as I jumped onto Shriek's back. My eyes darted around, trying to spot Hiccup, but he had yet to arrive. Val waited for him, and thankfully, a moment later, the two of them emerged, and he flew toward me on the wing of Cloudjumper. 

The moment he touched down onto Shriek's back, I crossed my arms. I felt anger taking over me, reflecting back on everything that had gone wrong there-- dwelling on all the ways it could have gone worse. Everyone else chatted nervously, exclaiming about how we nearly escaped with our lives, and of course, Hiccup noticed how uncharacteristically quiet I had been.

"Reign?" I refused to turn around. "Reign, what's going on?"

"We could've died in there, Hiccup, that's what's going on." I didn't have to turn around to know his brows crinkled as he looked over me, confused. "I told you we can't just run around and do reckless rescues and missions anymore, yet here we are."

"We made it out alive, Reign. That's what should matter now." His tone was stern. But that never phased me before, and I wasn't about to let it now.

"And what if we hadn't, hmm? Or even one of us hadn't?" I released my hands and rested them on Shriek's back, locking my elbows. "I know I told you I'm glad being a dad hasn't changed you, but we can't just be as reckless as we were. You need to think about these things, Hiccup."

"Are you kidding me?" I jumped slightly. He'd never raised his voice at me specifically before. "Reign, of course I care about being there for our daughters and not getting killed, but I can't just leave Toothless out there, you know that."

"Clearly, Toothless is fine! Okay? Wherever the Light Fury took him-- probably the Hidden World-- Grimmel hasn't found him yet. And if he hasn't been found at this point, he's probably safe."

"We can't base this on 'probably' and 'if', Reign." He took a deep breath, as though trying to let the anger out. "I know being safe is important. I want to be there for our girls, too. But I have to help Toothless."

I shook my head, opting to not say anything more. The sun had begun to rise by the time we reached the new island, a havy fog coating the ground. Everyone waited for us, clearly expecting Grimmel to be tied up and slung over one of our shoulders. But we hadn't had that sort of luck. Gobber sighed as he watched us land without our foe.

"Thor almighty! Guess we won't be needing this, then?" He gestured to a cage he'd constructed. 

"I led us right into his trap," Hiccup lamented, removing his helmet. I gently slid off Shriek and removed my own, still angry from our earlier altercation.

"Yeah, nice work, chief," Tuff scoffed. "Right, Ruff?" Oddly, no one responded. I looked over to spot only one of the two riders of Barf and Belch.

"Wait... where is Ruffnut?"

"We... we left her behind?"

"How could you not notice she was missing? You ride a two-headed dragon," Astrid pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. I feel like how Ruffnut is every day: dumb."

"Odin be spanked!" Gobber exclaimed. "This just gets better and better."

"I try to avoid looking at her. It gives me acid reflux."

"Okay, guys, just keep your helmets on," Hiccup ordered. "Toothless and I will find her."

"Toothless has the Light Fury now!" someone shouted from the crowd. "He's probably not even coming back."

"What?"

"You gave him his freedom, Hiccup," I reminded him. "What were you expecting?"

"I never thought he'd stay away for good! I... I..." He shook his head and sighed, throwing his hands down. "Look, I'll figure it out. I just need more time."

As he walked away, my heart dropped, the anger of the moments before settling somewhere else where it could be addressed later. I hated seeing him like this, thinking there was nothing left in the world for him to do.

"He thinks he has to lead alone." Valka's eyes seemed distant, but I knew her words were purposeful. "Because his father had to. He doesn't realize the strength you have together. Do you still believe in him?"

"Of course." I answered without thinking, bringing my true thoughts to light. "I wish he did. But he thinks he's nothing without Toothless."

"Then help him realize the truth."

There was only one thing I could think to do. It was dumb, risky, and could end in the complete opposite direction of how I wanted it to, but I knew Hiccup needed closure. After a brief glance at the others, I raced over to Shriek and jumped up on her back. We followed Hiccup, landing in front of him to cut him off and startling him slightly.

"Get on."

"What?" He appeared caught off-guard by my sudden shift in attitude.

"We're going to find him." I extended a hand to him, and with a smile, he took it. I yanked him up onto Shriek, and we flew off.


	12. Chapter 12

The sea stretched on endlessly in all directions, looking no different than the last mile we crossed. It sparkled in sections where light broke through the cloud cover, tricking me into thinking the world below was something beautiful. But, when I came back to reality, it was just more stretches of the same thing I'd been staring at for hours. The hopeful spirit I had earlier began to dwindle, realizing the Hidden World might actually be just a myth. But that doesn't explain where Toothess and the Light Fury could have disappeared to. Not to mention, Shriek had been following the scent of something she recognized this whole time.

"Where... Where is she headed?" Hiccup finally asked, strangely not questioning it up until this point.

"She's tracking something," I muttered, glancing down at her again. "Aren't you, girl?" She couldn't be leading us nowhere, there had to be some sort of destination.

Suddenly, Shriek dipped down closer to the water and picked up her speed. Hiccup grabbed onto my waist in an attempt to keep himself from falling off.

"There's nothing but miles and miles of--"

Before Hiccup could finish, he was drowned out by the rapid rushing of water, creating a crescendo that pulled us closer. My eyes widened as I watched a circle of rocks come over the horizon, a large beam of sunlight casting itself as a spotlight onto the area. Shriek flew over the gap as Hiccup and I looked down, unable to spot the bottom. Smiles stretched onto our faces as our eyes widened in awe. We'd finally found it... we'd finally made it to the Hidden World.

"A great waterfall at the end of the world," I muttered.

Suddenly, Shriek turned up in the air and dove straight down, right into the depths. Hiccup and I cried out as he reached out and clung to my waist, attempting to keep himself from falling off. The dense fog and mist blocked me from seeing the descent, and it wasn't until Shriek leveled out that my eyes began to adjust. The moment they did, they widened, completely awed with the scene in front of them. The whole world below stretched out in expansive caves, almost looking as though it were its own planet. The darkened world in front of us suddenly began to glow blue, as the waters below took on an unearthly shine. The entrance to the Hidden World itself was beautiful enough, but it was _nothing_ compared to what emerged in front of us.

Stalagmites and stalactites cast purple and blue spotlights onto Hiccup and I, following us as Shriek made her way further in. It wasn't long before Shriek herself began to glow, bits of purple and pink standing out against her bright, white spots.

"Wow," Hiccup whispered, a smile on his face. He pointed down at a pair of Sea Shockers bouncing in the pool of water below us. Waterfalls spilled out of secret caverns on every wall, disappearing into the endless void of color below. 

As more dragons came to fly alongside us, we passed into an area completely filled with Fireworms. They undulated as they flapped their tiny wings, desperately trying to reach wherever the rest of the dragons were going. Eventually, the landscape spread out into large pillars that looked as though they were made of rocks and leaves. Large flocks of dragons headed toward a large rock in the center, where two dragons stood atop. In an attempt to not disrupt the wild dragons, I pulled on Shriek to get her to branch off from the rest. She landed beneath the cover, and Hiccup and I climbed off. I found his hand slipping into mine as we looked around.

"It really does exist," he marveled. The closer we got, the more the two dragons looking over all the rest came into focus. Hiccup and I gasped at the same time. "Toothless." He lunged forward slightly, but I pulled him back before any of the dragons could see him.

"Shh. You'll spook them," I warned.

Toothless and the Light Fury descended from their perch, to a point in the center of all the dragons. Dragons roared and cried out as they passed by, praising their alpha. Toothless spread his wings and roared once. The sound echoed off the walls, as each of the dragons bowed down to him.

"Now _that's_ a king."

His mood suddenly switched as he looked back at the Light Fury, his stern and victorious expression changing to one of overwhelming love and affection. She spread her wings and nuzzled him, before the pair began to prance around each other, performing their Fury mating dance. A smile stretched onto my face as I watched the two of them, feeling a strange sense of pride. 

As I glanced over at Hiccup, I noticed he couldn't muster a smile. In fact, he almost looked devastated. I knew he wanted to be happy for his best friend, but the realization that he might not come back was starting to hit him. I moved my hand up to his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, resting my forehead against his cheek. All from earlier was officially forgiven. In this moment, he needed someone there for him. He'd been so used to having Toothless there, he'd been part of Hiccup's life before I even was, and the sudden loss certainly was shocking to him.

"We should go." His voice crackled as he forced out the suggestion.

My heart jumped in my chest as I heard a low grumble behind us. We both quickly whipped around to see a Rumblehorn looming over us, eyes narrowed.

"Oh, no!" We both began to back up, reaching the edge of the rock too soon. Hiccup reached his hand out in an attempt to calm it, but before he could do anything, it spread its wings and roared, alerting the other dragons their utopia had been invaded. "Shriek!" I grabbed Hiccup's hand and pulled him with me as I jumped off the cliff. We slid down the crystalline surface, narrowly dodging the jaws of several dragons. We suddenly came crashing down, but didn't have a second to collect ourselves.

"Go, go!"

We were just running out of path, when Toothless and Shriek suddenly swooped down and snatched the two of us up. The wild dragons attempted to catch up, but Toothless sneered at them, warding them off.

"I... I'm sorry, bud," Hiccup apologized. "I'm so sorry."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Another flashback chapter, just so I don't have to put the whole thing in italics. This one is from Reign's perspective)
> 
> Also damn, this one would've been real cute, visually.
> 
> And finally, there's some context missing because of the absence of a RTTE story. Just roll with it, even if you don't know who or what I'm talking about.

I pressed my daughters closer against my chest, only a couple of weeks old. This was the first time Hiccup and I were travelling with our babies, and admittedly, it was already pretty difficult. Feeding them on a moving dragon, in particular. proved to be a bit of a task. I wasn't ready to try and focus on flying and keeping our children from falling off, so I just rode on Toothless with Hiccup. It seemed like every five minutes, he would look back and try to check on the three of us. I knew he could tell I was nervous about where we were going, and not just because I was up all night pacing the room and drawing outside. I could've been I was worrying for nothing, but with my family, you never knew. They always seemed to stir up trouble wherever they went, inviting challenge from anyone who dared to listen. And as new parents, that was the last thing Hiccup and I needed.

Once the island came into view, he reached back and took my hand. 

"Everything's going to be fine, Reign. We just have to stop by, say hello, let them be with the girls for a little while, and then we can leave." I sighed. "I thought you three were on good terms?"

"We are. That's not what I'm worried about." Toothless moved a little lower, hovering steadily over the water, which allowed Hiccup to turn around and face me. "My brother and sister are always getting into trouble. No matter what, some sort of danger seems to follow them. I know since we dealt with the Dragon Hunters, the world has quieted down, but they really have a special talent for drawing in all sorts of conflict. And if it's not that, they make a big deal out of things. I'm sure I'm gonna get questions about why we didn't visit sooner." Hiccup chuckled, grabbing my free hand as Toothless landed.

"You're blowing things out of proportion."

As he helped me off the dragon, two figures approached us, each clad in their own silver armor. Hiccup took Alith and Kerrigan from me, standing back slightly to let us have our family moment. They both bowed their heads to me, out of respect, and I did the same. We were all chiefs, after all.

The second formalities were over, my sister approached me, pulling me into a tight hug. The last time we had seen each other was my wedding-- far too long ago. 

"Heather..." I muttered, smiling even though she couldn't see it. Though the people on Berk were like family to me, nothing could come close to the joy of being around your blood. Especially when you went so much of your life not knowing they existed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, in reference to my new parental role.

"Tired, mostly. When they say a baby disrupts your sleep schedule, they really mean it." We both chuckled, and I looked back at Hiccup, who offered an affectionate smile. "But it's all worth it. I have two daughters I love more than anything."

Heather quickly stepped aside, allowing my brother to engulf me in an embrace. He practically lifted me off the ground, but for once, I didn't mind. Things had gotten off to a rough start with the two of us, but now, there wasn't anything I wouldn't do for him.

Well, there were a few hang-ups, but only because he still tended to be somewhat of a madman at times.

"Sister!" he cried. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Good to see you, too, Dagur," I laughed. "How have things been faring here. You know, without any leadership from your _wise_ and _all knowing_ sister." He laughed at my overdramatic tone, then gestured his hand out to the island.

"Everything's been great here. Very peaceful. I leave Heather in charge while I go to see Mala, sometimes she comes here, the usual business."

"I still don't understand how that marriage works... nor do I really want to try." Hiccup finished his greetings, then stepped up to stand beside me.

"Now, down to business! Where are my beautiful nieces? I've been looking forward to this all week." 

I chuckled as I reached over to Hiccup, handing Alith to Dagur and Kerrigan to Heather. Although I felt a bit of weight lift off my chest, there was still the inevitable worry of giving my children to someone that was not myself or their father. Thankfully, that faded a few moments later, when I watched Heather and Dagur's expressions melt. They had fallen absolutely in love with their nieces, oogling over them and treating them like royalty the entire day. And, of course, they made sure to steer clear of the dragons. Hiccup and I were hesitant about that part, because we didn't know how a dragon would react with a human baby. Toothless had fared fine so far, but we'd never let him _too_ close. 

The day was nearly drawing to a close, when I noticed Dagur's facial expression shift. He appeared confused, maybe even a little concerned. My protective instinct kicked in, and I sat up a little straighter.

"Uh, Reign... are her eyes supposed to look like that?"

Panicked, I made my way over to my brother and looked down. Alith had opened her eyes, but... there was something wrong. Her vibrant green irises had a strange haze over them, almost making them appear milky. I had never noticed that before...

With one glance at Hiccup, we quickly gathered up our things and made a mad scramble back to Berk.


	14. Chapter 14

The sun had begun to paint the clouds golden colors as it started to slip away into the night. Hiccup and I had remained completely silent on the flight back to Berk, feeling guilty after ripping Toothless away from the Hidden World. He was a king there, he had his mate, and now... he was just stuck with us. Toothless purred sadly, and Hiccup and I exchanged a glance, the same thoughts entering our minds.

We landed in a field back on New Berk, and I pat Shriek to let her go back to the stables. Hiccup stared off into the distance, clearly deep in his thoughts. I reached out and squeezed his hand quickly, just as tears were beginning to well in his eyes. I began to feel the overwhelming emotional weight on Hiccup right now, and pushed away as he moved around the front of Toothless.

"It's okay, bud. You belong there, with her. We don't." Toothless grunted softly, as though he didn't understand. "And that's all right. We'll find a way to--"

Before Hiccup could finish, there was a strange dragon call in the distance. The two of us turned toward the bare field of grass, attempting to find whatever dragon had made that noise. Toothless' head suddenly perked up, and only a few seconds later, the white head of the Light Fury emerged from the grass. Smiles spread onto Hiccup and my faces as we looked at her. 

"Hey!" Toothless licked Hiccup's cheek, then bounded over to meet his mate excitedly. I came back to Hiccup's side. resting an arm on his back. With the exception of Grimmel still lingering out there in the world somewhere, things were actually starting to look up.

"She followed us back." They greeted each other, then tackled each other into the grass, causing the two of us to laugh.

"We might not have to say goodbye after all." Toothless looked from the Light Fury to Hiccup, as though urging her to approach. "That's it..."

Before she could, a dragon squawked behind us, carrying... Ruffnut? How did she escape?

"Ruffnut?"

"Miss me?" She spread her arms wide, as though expecting us to shower her with affection upon her return.

"How did you escape?" 

"I annoyed them until they let me go." She still wasn't wrapping her head around the issues we had.

"Wait, wait. Grimmel let you go?"

"So dumb. They couldn't handle me. See, everyone thinks Tuffnut's more annoying, but..."

"Ruffnut, focus! Were you followed?"

"I never look back, Hiccup."

The two of us looked to each other, growing increasingly alarmed. Grimmel wouldn't just _let_ her go. She must have said something that tipped him off that we had a new island, and knew she could lead him and his entire armada back here. We could be in serious danger, sitting ducks waiting to be shot.

"Toothless! Toothless!" 

The Light Fury roared and took to the air, but only a few seconds later, something struck her in the neck, and she began to plummet. Toothless dashed after her, trying to save his mate in any way possible, but Hiccup and I knew he was headed straight into a trap. We ran behind the two dragons, trying to get him to turn around.

"Toothless, come back!" Hiccup begged. 

My heart stopped as Grimmel came into view, aiming a crossbow at Toothless. Without a moment of hesitation, he fired another tranquilizer, this time into Toothless. The Night Fury teetered back and forth before collapsing onto the rock he'd stood on, defeated by something so simple.

"No!"

My heart broke as Grimmel chained up the two dragons, and just as Hiccup and I got close enough, he had his own dragons hoist them into the air, taking them back to his armada.

"And now, our little game must come to an end," Grimmel called, taunting us. The entire flock of Berk's dragon's suddenly burst through the trees, but just before they could reach Toothless and the Light Fury, Toothless roared loudly. The dragons, all at once, came to a stop, merely watching as Grimmel dragged them away.

"What are they doing?" Snotlout asked as he and the others approached us. "They could totally take him." I looked back to see Gobber, who quickly handed Alith and Kerrigan to me. Right now, more than ever, I needed to know they were safe.

"Not with her life on the line." For a moment, I met eyes with Grimmel, and my expression stiffened. I wanted to hack him into a million pieces, throw him into the ocean and let him drown, but there wasn't a thing I could do from here.

"Aww... Don't feel too badly. You tried your best. But you are nothing without your dragon." Quickly, my gaze flashed over to Hiccup, who looked to the same man in horror. Without thinking, he began to run after them, heading straight for the edge of the cliff.

"Hiccup!" I chased him, using my free arm to grab his waist and pull him back before he jumped off. He tried to push against me, but even with one arm, I was stronger than him. As we watched them fade into the cloud cover, he moved my arm aside, bringing a hand to his forehead as he began to pace. I watched him for a moment, trying to fight back my own tears, before I tried my hand at reasoning with him. He spotted me before I opened my mouth, and held his hand up.

"Don't say it." Immediately, I threw my free hand up in surrender.

"I wasn't going to."

"I shouldn't have dragged you out there. He wouldn't have flown me back. She wouldn't have followed."

"Yep," I shrugged. He threw his arms down and grunted in frustration, turning around and heading toward me. "I feel like the same screw-up I was before I met Toothless." I tried my best to fight down a genuine reaction.

"I can see that."

"Are you just gonna stand there and agree with everything?"

Finally.

"Well, you're right. You're back where you started." I turned my head and locked eyes with him, causing him to suddenly look away. "But I was the first to believe in you. And I have watched you doubt whether or not you're worthy ever since." He still wouldn't look at me as I moved closer. "But you know what? I am the person I am today because of you. I never told you that, but it's true. And it's not like I don't understand. Every new step of my life, I didn't know if I'd be able to do it. They were big steps, leaps, even. But you were always there, trying your best to help and support me in any way you could. You are the bravest, most stubborn, most determined knucklehead I know. Toothless didn't give you that, Hiccup. He just made it..."

"...easier." I smiled at him.

"And now it's gonna be a lot harder. So, what are you gonna do about it?" A sheepish grin crossed his face as he looked at me.

"Probably something stupid."

"That's the Hiccup I know."

He reached out and took my free hand, bringing me closer so he could kiss my cheek. He had done that a thousand times before for me, and now it had been my turn. Thank Thor it went well. We turned to the others, a new determination on our leader's face.

"Suit up, gang. We're going to get them back."

"What? He's lost his mind."

"Now _that's_ father material." Tuff reached out and pulled Hiccup into a strange embrace. Confused, I turned to Astrid. "At last, faithful pupil, you are ready."

"He knows Hiccup's already a father, right?"

"It's better when you don't ask," Astrid reminded me.

"Um, how are we gonna get our dragons back without dragons?"

"Trust me."

Hiccup turned to look at me, and the second I realized what he was thinking, I held up a hand.

"Now, hold on. I told you I'd support you until the day I die, but I'd rather not that day be today." He smirked and reached out, taking my hand and lowering it.

"You know we're out of options." I rolled my eyes, looking down at the grass.

"I know." We both fell silent for a moment, then his eyes moved to the children in my arms. 

"Who are we supposed to leave Alith and Kerrigan with? We need all the fighters we can get." This time, it was my turn to smirk at Hiccup, causing an alarmed look to cross his face.

"You're not the only one that's been inventing lately. Now, come on. We've got dragons to save."


	15. Chapter 15

Hiccup tightened the baskets attached to my back again. The twins were completely upright, secured to my back with caged holes for their faces. We weren't exactly going for subtlety here, so I didn't have to worry about the the babies crying. Not to mention the case was completely dragon proof, and only Hiccup and I knew how to open it. Once he finished securing Alith and Kerrigan, he turned me to face him and took my hands.

"Are you _sure_ about this?" I shook my head.

"Of course not. But we're out of options at this point." I glanced back at where Grimmel had taken the dragons. "You realize the ten of us are taking on an entire armada, right?"

"We're out of options." I smirked as he threw my words back at me. No matter what, we had to rescue these dragons and let them get back to where they belonged.

"So, jump off the cliff in these?" Ruffnut spread her arms to show off the wing suits Hiccup had made all of us. In my years of knowing him, I'd always protested this thing. I never saw myself wearing one, especially not with our children on my back. "That's the best you've got?"

"No, you guys are the best I've got." Ruff's expression immediately shifted, her angry demeanor falling away.

"Aw... I'm with him, who else?" She pumped her fist in the air. Her brother whipped his head around, glaring at her.

"Ruffnut, that was my line."

Hiccup wasn't wasting any more time on this. Immediately, he snapped down the visor on his helmet and rushed toward the edge of the cliff, leading the charge. I let my mind go as I rushed toward the cliff, not letting my own fear keep me from following him into battle. I tried my best to keep my eyes open as I shot my arms wide, extending the wings Hiccup had fashioned. The ships got closer the further we floated downward, and soon, we were withing earshot.

"Hang on, Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, trying to get his dragon's attention. Grimmel whipped around from his position, eyes widening as he spotted the troops heading his way. He swooped down to knock Grimmel over, then grabbed onto a rope to make his way to Toothless while the rest of us focused on freeing the other dragons. While most of us landed on the deck relatively gracefully, Snotlout somehow managed to get stuck above us. I rolled my eyes when I spotted him, focusing on the mission in front of us instead.

"Perfect timing." I yanked my sword from its sheath, staring down a group of Dragon Hunters heading for us. "Game faces," Hiccup order, warning us we had to be ready to attack.

"Yeah, what are you waiting for?" We all glanced up at Snotlout. "Get in there."

Hiccup sighed in disappointment, but he didn't really have time to dwell on anything. The Dragon Hunters approached us, but the moment they realized we could fight back, some of them tried to flee. Hiccup and I nodded at each other, and I followed one of the hunters to keep him from getting away. He swung his knives at me, attempting to slice at the vulnerable spot of my face left open by my helmet. I did my best to push back, but the hunter had me pinned as close as I could be against a pole. Just as I considered jumping down, Hiccup rushed up behind the hunter and cut a rope with his Inferno.

"Heads up!" I ducked down just as a dragon came swooping down and snatched up the hunter.

"Thanks." Only a second later, another hunter ran up behind an unaware Hiccup. "Look out!" I chucked my sword at the hunter, striking him right in the head and knocking him unconscious. He lifted his visor as I made my way over to him, snatching a cartridge of Zippleback Gas from his sword.

"Thanks." I opened the top of the cartridge and tossed it down onto the deck, causing the contents to begin to spill out. Hiccup smirked at me as he caught on, then without hesitation, tossed his sword down onto the wood, causing a massive explosion to erupt that sent flames jumping across the planks.

"How do we keep getting into situations like this?" Hiccup chuckled and shook his head, then peered around my side, clearly trying to get a glance at the twins. "Are they doing okay so far?" 

"They look completely content, strangely enough."

Satisfied, I whistled, calling for Shriek, who picked Hiccup up as she flew by. Hiccup steered her toward Grimmel, and with that taken care of, I slid down a rope and helped my friends with the other Dragon Hunters. Astrid and I focused on fighting off the hunters themselves, while the others were more concerned with freeing the dragons trapped in cages. I fought my way up to where one of the hunters was steering the ship, completely unaware that Astrid and I were sneaking up behind him. Once I got close enough, I cleared my throat to get him to turn around, then struck him across the face and knocked him onto the ground. I kicked his body once to make sure he was unconscious, while Astrid violently turned the wheel and stuck her axe between the notches, causing the ship to start turning onto its side. 

I looked around to watch the armada burn for a moment, while some of the ships crashed into each other, before dealing with the last of the hunters. All of the dragons had been freed, and we all cheered as we watched them fly overhead, making their way back to New Berk. We all called for our dragons and did the same, abandoning ship just before it sank. The closer we got to our home island, I noticed a few figures in the distance, tumbling toward the rocky grounds far below them. My heart stopped when I realized they were Hiccup and Grimmel, without dragons anywhere in sight to save them. Grimmel ripped at Hiccup's wings, throwing them down and leaving him without any way to get himself up, then slid down and held onto Hiccup by his leg. Thinking quickly, Hiccup released his metal leg, sealing Grimmel's fate and sending him splattering against the rocks. I stood up slightly and prepared to make Shriek go as fast as she could in a desperate attempt to save him, when the Light Fury suddenly swooped in and grabbed him, taking him back toward New Berk. I let out a large exhale, leaning back slightly.

The moment Shriek touched down on New Berk, I jumped from her back and stumbled a bit before finding my own solid ground. Hiccup managed to get himself up enough to hop over to Toothless, who laid unconscious on the grass. He got back down again and brought himself down to eye level with the Night Fury as his groggy eyes opened, purring lightly.

"Hey, good morning, bud." Hiccup gently scratched Toothless' nose. "Here you go." He slung his way around so that Toothless could rest his chin on his lap. "Boy, you're full of surprises."

Timidly, the Light Fury approached, looking at Hiccup with wide, blue eyes. Hiccup reached out and pet the top of her head, moving so he could be out of their way.

"He's all yours." I rushed to Hiccup and slung his arm around my shoulders, moving my other arm around his waist. He looked down at me for a second, then the two of us focused back on the two Furies, who began to nuzzle each other affectionately. "Oh! Hold on." I watched as Hiccup tried his best to balance while undoing the binds on the baskets for Alith and Kerrigan. He cradled the former in his free arm, while I took the latter. We smiled down at our daughters, before Hiccup turned to me. 

_Not now, but very soon..._ He seemed to understand, nodding slightly before bringing my head closer to his and resting his forehead against mine.

Toothless purred as he looked to Hiccup curiously, moving his gaze between the horizon and the two of us. I reached out and took Alith from Hiccup's arms, allowing him to hop over to his best friend and say goodbye. I swallowed down the biting feeling in the back of my throat as I thought of the lovable dragon leaving for good. 

"You're right, bud," Hiccup muttered. "It's time. I was so busy fighting for a world that I wanted, I didn't think about what you needed. You've looked after us for long enough. Time to look after yourselves."

My heart dropped for a second, but I knew what I had to do. With slight hesitance, I turned around and made my way over to Shriek, reaching around and releasing her saddle. At the end of the day, these dragons were wild animals, and although we kept them around for a while, they needed to be let go. Shriek had helped me when I needed her, and come in when everyone else had what I didn't, but she needed to go now and be with the rest of her kind. She looked up at me with wide, yellow eyes, as though asking me if I was sure. I sniffled as a couple tears threatened to spill out, then shifted my girls into one arm and embraced Shriek with the other.

"Oh, Shriek... my good girl."

Everyone else followed our lead, removing the saddles from their dragons and bidding them tearful goodbyes. I even caught Eret getting emotional, proving how quickly he and Skullcrusher had bonded. Hiccup looked to all of us, then pet his dragon one last time.

"Go on, bud. Lead them to the Hidden World. You'll be safe there. Safer than you could ever be with me. It's okay. I love you, too, and I want you to be free. Our world doesn't deserve you. Yet."

Toothless glanced at the Light Fury, before suddenly jumping forward and hugging Hiccup. I smiled, reminded of all the human habits Toothless had picked up on, like smiles and hugs. Whatever Hiccup had done for Odin to send Toothless his way... I was grateful for it.

"Go, Toothless. Go."

Toothless roared to the dragons, sending them a signal to follow. The all called out back, indicating they were ready, and the Light Fury and Toothless took off, leading all the other dragons to the place where they could be safe.

I held onto Hiccup again, and we lingered on the cliff side for as long as we could see the dragons on the horizon.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 years later... 
> 
> (Idk what the actual timeline is but for the purposes of what I'm doing, this is our time jump)

My leg bounced up and down rapidly, both out of nervousness and a futile attempt to keep myself warm. New Berk, unfortunately, got much colder than Berk had, meaning I really couldn't leave the hut much in the middle of winter. But this time, Hiccup made an exception.

Not that he could really make me do something if I didn't want to. He knew if I'd made up my mind to go outside, I'd do it. Thick layers of bright, white snow covered everything, but I didn't care. This was far more important.

With a little bit of help from Gobber, Valka, and myself, Hiccup had made a much more seamless transition into balancing being a chief and a father. I still helped him with a lot of major decisions, and even the little bits of council business, but I had to put my primary focus on taking care of Alith and Kerrigan. Hiccup wouldn't let me take complete responsibility when it came to raising them, however, and I'd never be able to express to him how much that meant. It melted my heart to see how involved he wanted to be in their lives. He had always drifted toward Alith, I think because of her more docile nature, but he showed Kerrigan the same amount of love. They were his little girls, and according to him, the three of us took precedence over any chiefly duty.

Alith and Kerrigan had somehow both become little balls of energy, in their own ways. Kerrigan had taken up my family's love for mischief, while Alith would try and run off on her own, despite the fact she didn't have her sight. They were two years old at this point, meaning they had been walking and talking for quite a while. It certainly hadn't been easy at first, especially considering how easily they could slip away from Hiccup and I in a split second, but we'd eased into parenting a couple of toddlers. It never got easy, but we figured out a way to make it work. 

And that's why we decided, years later, to yield Gobber's advice and have another kid... which was why Hiccup and I were out in the cold.

I didn't know why it was taking Gothi so long to make a decision, but it made the seconds pass by even slower than before. Hiccup and I kept glancing to each other, unsure of how we'd feel if we didn't get the result we wanted. He kept trying to reassure me with little smiles, but it did little to still my hammering heart. It felt strange having him here this time, considering when I found out about Alith and Kerrigan, I kept it from him for almost a month. But here he was this time, waiting for something to happen.

We both sat up a little straighter as she came back, eyeing the both of us. In reality, it only took Gothi half a second to react, but it felt like several eternities before she nodded her head. Both our sets of eyes went wide, mouths dropping open a little before Hiccup reached over and embraced me, our heartbeats not calming down in the slightest now that we had the good news. Gothi took her leave at then, deciding to give us our space. Once our joy balanced out a bit, we both had the same idea.

"Now we have to tell the girls..." I chuckled.

"Can we just tell everyone at once? I don't want to hunt them all down."

"Like, the whole village? All of New Berk?" I began to wave my hands wildly.

"Oh, Thor, no, no! Definitely not. Just our friends, and your side of the family. I suppose we'll have to plan a trip to Berserker Island to tell my brother and sister, now that we can't send Terror Mail." He remained silent for a moment before leaning forward and kissing me. I sighed, reaching up and touching his cheek before he pulled away. 

"I'll get the others, if you want to head back home and tell my mom?" I shook my head.

"We should both tell her, since you know this time. But I do want to rescue her from the balls of energy that are our daughters, so I'll do that." 

When I opened the door to Hiccup and my home, Valka perked her head up from the floor. I smiled and waved to her, and only seconds later, a little head of thick, wild, auburn hair popped up and rushed over, tackling my legs.

"Mommy!" I laughed and reached down, scooping Kerrigan up and resting her against my hip. Alith still sat in her grandmother's lap, choosing to remain where she was, even though she knew my footsteps well. Hiccup and I had tried our best to get her to understand the layout of the house by walking her through over and over again, but she was still pretty young, so we had time. 

"Where's Daddy?" Alith asked, looking up at where she presumed me to be. She knew Hiccup wasn't back yet, which never ceased to amaze me.

"Daddy's getting all our friends. He'll be home soon, sweetie." She nodded, and I helped her up and brought her over to the table with me. Valka followed, eyeing me suspiciously the entire time.

"Where exactly did you two go?" I felt like she had an idea of what was going on, but I didn't want to spoil things before everyone else got here.

"Just... somewhere. You'll find out."

Right as I finished my sentence, the front door opened again, and Hiccup led everyone in. Kerrigan gasped and began to thrash in my arms, so I let her down, allowing her to dart back and forth between everyone and say hello. Alith, on the other hand, gravitated toward her father and clung to him, overwhelmed by the amount of footsteps in the room. We allowed everyone to come all the way in, then took each other's free hands before speaking.

"So, we have something to tell you guys." I knew at that point they had figured it out, but for the sake of the twins, everyone kept themselves from reacting. "We're having another kid."

Everyone cheered and congratulated us, coming forward for hugs and handshakes. Alith and Kerrigan didn't seem to understand, however, so Hiccup attempted to elaborate.

" _Which means_ Alith and Kerrigan are going to have a little sibling."

That set Kerrigan off. She began to squeal and jump around, returning back to her energetic self. I watched as Alith smiled, clapping and trying her best to explain how excited she was.

"Are they coming tomorrow? When, Mommmy?" Hiccup leaned down and picked up his other daughter.

"Not for a while, sweetie. The baby still has to grow." She cocked her head at him.

"Like the trees?" Everyone chuckled.

"Sort of. Only the baby won't grow outside, it'll grow inside Mommy."

"Why?" 

My eyes widened and I looked at Hiccup, who spoke fast.

"We'll tell you when you're older." Strangely enough, she took that as an answer. After a while, the excitement of the moment became too overwhelming for Alith, so Hiccup and I took her and Kerrigan outside and let them play in the snow, keeping a close eye on them. 

For a moment, however, Hiccup and my gazes wandered over the cliff side, staring out into the great beyond. Not a moment went by when we didn't miss them, but our lives were going on. And maybe on day, we'd be able to see them. 

But for now, my life was right here in front of me, and I didn't want it any different.


	17. Chapter 17

_"_ This is New Berk at Snoggletog, the greatest time of the year. The lights, the hunting songs, the holiday shopping, the yak nog shooters. The only thing missing was dragons. It's been ten years since Vikings and dragons agreed to live apart, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten our flying friends. And the best part of it all, Kjartan, was on Snoggletog Eve."

I removed a knife from the sheath on my side and stabbed it into the garland I was hanging up, in order to keep it in place. Our son, Kjartan, stared up at his father with wide eyes, completely mystified by the story of the Vikings and dragons.

"I'd make Toothless his favorite meal."

"What was it?" he asked, some of his bright red hair flopping in his eyes.

"Lake trout with a side of sea trout, on a bed of brook trout."

"We all like trout!" Kjartan exclaimed. 

"And even though he's gone, I still make it for him. A lot of families do stuff like this. It keeps our loved ones in our hearts, even though they're far away." Hiccup glanced over at me, and I offered a smile. That youthful light never left his eyes, even all these years later. "So, wanna help me catch some fish?" Kjartan jumped up excitedly.

"Good on you! We're gonna feed Toothless! I don't need a fishing pole, Dad. I'll just butt the wee fishes on their own wee head." I chuckled and made my way over to my husband, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, Kjartan charged forward, ramming his head right into the wood that surrounded our lit fireplace. I jumped in surprise, suddenly retracting my hand and rushing over to my son. He shook his head, as though trying to just get rid of the hurt, while I crouched down and inspected the top of his head. Thankfully, there wasn't any bump, so he probably didn't hit his head hard enough to hurt him. I warily looked back at Hiccup, who made a concerned face before trying to distract Kjartan. 

"Come on. Let's get Toothless a snack." Hiccup grabbed his fishing pole, then leaned over and kissed my cheek before heading toward the door. Him leaving, on the bright side, would give me time to finish up his Snoggletog present. I was working on a drawing of him and Toothless from not long before he left, since Hiccup already had one from when we were younger. 

But then, the moment he opened the door, he went flying out to the side. I quickly rushed over to the door, trying to figure out what happened. In front of the door dangled a large log, suspended by a string, functioning almost as a battering ram. I pushed my way past and knelt down, offering Hiccup my hand to help him stand up.

"Yes! It worked." I looked over to see Kerrigan pop out of the snow, wearing some of the white powder on the top of her head.

"Kerrigan, what are you doing?" I rushed over to stop the battering ram's motion, propelled by Kjartan swinging it back and forth.

"Testing my dragon defense system." I watched her wind a crank to pull the battering ram back again. I looked up Hiccup, who seemed shocked his daughter was building things to protect us from dragons. "You and all the grown ups in New Berk are leaving them snacks. What if one shows up?"

"What-- that would be great! We love dragons," Hiccup explained.

"Why? They're monsters." I helped usher her inside. Alith, thankfully, still sat on the couch, unmoving since I had suddenly sprinted outside. Immediately, Kerrigan sat down next to her twin, removing a book from her hands and flipping through the pages. I peered over her shoulder and gasped. She had found the old Book of Dragons, before Hiccup, Fishlegs, and I had made all the revisions about the true natures of dragons.

"Oh... Uh..." Hiccup and I looked to each other, trying to find a way to explain that wouldn't make Kerrigan even more afraid than before.

"I found this in the attic. It was grandpa's." I rested my hands on my hips.

"What did I tell you about locking the attic?" I hissed.

"I was in a rush, I'm sorry. I didn't think she was actually gonna go up there."

"How come you never told us the truth about dragons?" Alith asked, looking up in the general direction of Hiccup and I. Although she couldn't see us, I'm sure she had gotten an idea of where we were.

"But we did. Dragons are wonderful. They're our friends."

"Tell me this-- are they giant?" 

"Well, yeah."

"Razor-sharp teeth?"

"Uh..."

"Breathe fire?"

"I suppose so."

"Claws?"

"Yes."

"What happened to your leg?"

Both of us went awkwardly silent. There was no way to explain the difference between the good dragons and the bad dragons, and the twins were _certainly_ too young to understand predatory behavior and the survival instinct that actually had propelled them.

"That's what I thought. Maybe we don't leave fish snacks around to attract them. 'Cause you know who doesn't want to be dragon dessert? Me!" Kerrigan slammed the Book of Dragons down and took her sister's hand, dragging her close behind. "Kjartan, do you wanna be dessert for a dragon?"

"Mm... methinks I don't. Let's kill the dragons!" 

Once they made their way out the door, I let out a long sigh, slowly closing my jaw. 

"How did this happen?" I shook my head, slumping down on the bench at our dining table.

"She found the book, that's how." Hiccup sat down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "She's already paranoid because of Alith... this didn't help at all. She doesn't remember the dragons, so she doesn't know they're friendly creatures." I leaned my head against his shoulder.

"What are we supposed to do if the dragons show up?"

"As much as I hate to say it, babe... the dragons haven't been here in ten years. I don't think they're coming back anytime soon."

"You never know, Reign."

I sighed and stood, reaching down to take his hand. We headed out onto our porch, and I lit the logs in the fire pit, signaling the kids to come back. Hiccup was still deep in thought, trying to figure out how it could be possible that his daughters were afraid of dragons.

"Our anscestors were terrified of dragons because they didn't understand them. Reign, we cannot let our kids go down that road." I watched for a moment as Kjartan lit a stick on fire and began to run around, when an idea popped into my head.

"Remember when we were kids, back in Old Berk, how we used to put on a pageant at Snoggletog?"

"Oh, yeah. Those were fun."

"What if we brought the pageant back? We showed the children of New Berk how humans and dragons became friends." He shot up out of his seat, smiling at me.

"That's a great idea! But we've only got four days until Snoggletog. Three if you don't count Black Plague Friday."

"Yeah, nothing gets done. Everybody's shopping and coughing."

"I think we can do this! Let's talk to Gobber." He leaned forward to kiss me, when his eyes caught movement behind us, causing him to spin me around. I watched as Kjartan, wearing a head that looked like a dragon. I jumped as he charged toward the door, only for another one of Kerrigan's devices to smash into him, sending him flying back into the snow. I gasped, but thankfully, he spoke as though nothing was wrong.

"You got me!" I rested a hand on my chest, sighing in relief.

"Kid can take a hit," I muttered. Only now had I noticed Hiccup's touch had left my shoulders, and my eyes wandered over to the railing, where Hiccup was looking out toward the horizon. Quieting down, I made my way over and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my head on his back. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's just all this talk of dragons kind of makes me miss him." I shifted so I could grab his hand, lacing my fingers through his and squeezing. "It's hard at the holidays, you know? I wonder if Toothless ever misses me."

"Of course he does. Even though you're apart, you're still his best friend." He sighed and turned his head, kissing my cheek gently. "Now, come on. We need to eat."

The next morning, Hiccup and I went off to talk to Gobber about the pageant. We went by his smithy, but it was still closed down from the night before. We began to wander through the village, finding him at the statue of Stoick. Three kids rushed past us as Gobber continued to stare, muttering something to himself.

"Uh Gobber?" He turned around and waved at us.

"Hey, kids. I was just talking to a statue of your father as if he were really here." Hiccup and I glanced at each other nervously. I felt as though he were starting to go a little off the deep end lately. "It pains me how the wee ones of this town have forgotten Stoick."

"I know, and Alith and Kerrigan are afraid of dragons," I sighed.

"That's why we want to bring back the Snoggletog Pageant." Gobber's expression suddenly brightened. 

"That's a great idea, kids! Hold on, I think I might have something." I wrapped my hands around the crook of Hiccup's elbow as we followed Gobber back to his place. He reached down and dug out an old book, blowing the piles of dust off in our faces and causing us to cough. "You're in luck. The script I wrote for the last pageant."

I leaned over and scanned over the script, reeling back slightly. This script was all about how the Vikings could kill the viscious dragons. I glanced over at Hiccup, whose wide eyes confirmed my horror. This one wasn't going to work.

"This has not aged well," he whispered to me, pointing down to the book.

"Mm. We may need to start from scratch. Why don't we show when everything changed?"

"Oh, that would be fantastic! Uh, like when I met Toothless, and--" I reached over and lowered Hiccup's arm from in front of my face, out of fear he would accidentally hit me.

"Maybe more big picture, love. When all Vikings and dragons became friends."

"Oh, Reign, I love that," Gobber complimented. "I'll start writing immediately. This is gonna be just what we need to honor our friendship with dragons, and, of course, my great friend... Stoick." Hiccup and I stared in slight horror as Gobber pulled on a string behind him and unfurled a large tapestry of Hiccup's father. Why did he have that?

And with that, Hiccup and I headed back home so he could get to work. I knew he wanted to construct some sort of mechanical Toothless, which would give me time to keep on drawing. He kissed me, then headed off toward his workshop, and the moment the door shut, I sprinted upstairs and grabbed my parchment and charcoal. I sat down by the fire and started to shade in the outlines, trying my best not to make a mistake. Erasing was a complicated process.

Thankfully, I had the pencil lifted off the paper when the door burst open. Kjartan ran up to me and grabbed onto my legs, while Kerrigan carefully led Alith inside. 

"Mom, mommy! Kerri's got another dragon trap idea!"

I stared down at him for a moment, trying to debate whether or not to discourage this. I knew, no matter what, they would try and build it anyways, so I just flashed him a wary smile and watched as he and Kerrigan began to gather up a ton of rope and a net. Alith made her way over to me, and I reached down and helped her up onto the bench at the table. She swung her legs, resting her head against the wood, while her siblings started to set up another dragon trap. I went back to drawing for a while, until Alith spoke up.

"Mom?" I set down my drawing materials and turned to her.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Are dragons really as scary as Kerrigan says?" I paused. Now was my time to explain, even if it was just to one of my daughters. I knew Alith's protection was the reason Kerrigan was so worried about dragons, so maybe, if she wasn't afraid, Kerrigan soon wouldn't be, too.

"Well, they look scary, like your sister described, but they're some of the gentlest creatures on the planet. I know you can't see what they look like, but that just makes it easier to love them. In fact, Toothless is part of the reason I fell in love with your dad. He took me on a flight on the back of Toothless, it was beautiful." I sighed, thinking back to that time. Things were easier then. "You don't remember this, because you were a baby, but Toothless loved you and your sister. He wanted to protect you two, from the moment I found out I was pregnant with you. In fact, he's the reason I found out. And from that moment on, he wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to you or Kerrigan."

"Dragons don't sound so bad when you talk about them." I leaned down and hugged her.

"They were wonderful. But I know when they're not there, it can be hard to see how they're lovable."

The door opened again, this time with Hiccup returning home. Unfortunately, he was unaware of the trap his children had set up, so he ended up trapped in a net, dangling upside-down from the ceiling.

"Yes!" Kerrigan cried, trying to keep her auburn mop out of her face. "It works!"

"We're going to catch a dragon, Dad!" Kjartan cheered. "Knock him cold so he can't eat us."

"Kerrigan designed the whole trap herself." The wavering in my tone, hopefully, indicated to Hiccup that this was getting more and more concerning. 

"D'ah, so proud." Hiccup laughed awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"C'mon, Kjartan! Let's go set some traps outside." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Kerrigan holding something shiny in her hand. My eyes widened, and quickly, I rushed out and snatched the knife from her hand. She glared at me, but sometimes, I had to be the assertive parent. 

"What did I say about using the good knives?" Her knife was still in my sheath, so I pulled it out and placed it in her hand. The blade was slightly dulled, so that if she accidentally got her skin, it wouldn't bleed.

With that taken care of, I headed back inside, still finding Hiccup dangling from the ceiling. I chuckled and shook my head at him, crouching to meet him at eye-level.

"You got tied up by your twelve and eight year old children."

"Ah-ha-ha, yes, so funny." He let out that sarcastic laugh, rolling his eyes. "Can you help me down, please?" I went over and got one of our chairs, using the knife I had just taken from Kerrigan to cut him loose. He landed with a loud 'thump' on the ground, causing me to grimace.

"Sorry, love." I got down and helped him up as he dusted off his clothes.

"At least I'm down. That's what matters." I reached up and kissed his cheek, then he reached out and took my hand. "Gobber needs us to help with setting up the pageant. We should get the kids and bring them with us."

"Alith?" Hiccup and I made our way over, and she took her father's free hand, allowing him to lead her outside. Once we'd managed to round up Kerrigan and Kjartan, we made our way to the center of New Berk, where Vikings were beginning to construct the stage and props for the pageant. Kerrigan sat on a log, trying to sharpen a stick into a point, which was always concerning. Alith, on the other hand, remained glued to her father's side. I had an arm wrapped around one of his, the two of us almost creating a shield behind Alith.

"Great news, Chief." I looked over at Gobber to acknowledge him, despite the fact I wasn't the chief here. "After exhaustive casting, we've found our Hiccup."

"Yeah, Gobber, I actually wanted to ask you about the whole Hiccup character in the story."

"Hiccup, present yourself!" Up stepped Tuffnut in oversized clothes, wearing a massive set of twigs on his head.

"Tuffnut?"

"Tuffnut, give us a taste." Tuffnut cleared his throat, as though preparing for some great monologue.

"Uh, a dragon is coming," he said, absolutely no passion or enthusiasm behind his tone whatsoever. "Aah. Help me, help... uh... line?" 

"Me," Gobber sighed.

"Right. Me."

"Are you--"

"Great. Now let's see you run away in fear." Tuffnut started to jump around, rather than running, and shouting a little to indicate he was meant to be afraid. "Oh, look at those knock knees. The splayed gait of a newborn lamb."

"I do not run like that." He looked down at me. "Do I run like that?"

"You used to," I shrugged.

"Which brings me to my next-- really? I did?" He shook his head. "Which brings me to a bigger point. I've read the script, Gobber, and I have some notes. I'm not sure the character of Hiccup is coming through, uh, quite as heroic as I was. I--I was pretty heroic, no?" I scoffed.

"Heroic? You were gonna run away until I found you out."

"Oh, mate, I think we get the gist of it."

"But that's not, in any way me." At that moment, Astrid walked by, reading over some of the notes for scene transitions. She wasn't really paying attention as she walked through.

"Hey, Hiccup, I was-- oh." She looked up and realized she was, in fact, talking to Tuffnut in a wig.

"Are you serious?" I smiled up at him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I know that's not you." He huffed.

"You're my wife. You know why that doesn't count." I shrugged.

"True, but I've also gotten to know you over these last 16 years. You weren't exactly the bravest person at first, but you grew into it. You just had to get out of your awkward phase. And hey, I fell in love with that dork, so clearly, you were doing something right." I watched a smile ease onto his face, and he leaned down to kiss the top of my head.

The hours passed by at the rate of months. Hiccup and I had been here who-knows-how-long, watching as Gobber cycled through auditions for roles. I leaned against his shoulder, trying my best not to fall asleep.

"Better luck next time, Haggis. Nice effort. Who's next?" A very nervous Fishlegs stepped up. 

"Fishlegs Ingerman, reading for the role of Stoick the Vast." He took a moment to compose himself, then started reading the lines. "If I don't return-- nope, nope." He cleared his throat. "If I don't return, know that all that I am, all that I do, is for you... my precious Hiccup." The two of us stared at him in astonishment. Somehow, I'm really not sure given his natural voice, he sounded _exactly_ like Stoick.

"Wow. So are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes, I am... this isn't working." Hiccup and I gawked at him.

"What? Not working?"

"You're right, I should do it." Gobber made his way up onto the stage, standing right under the glare of the spotlight. "No, no, don't try and talk me out of it. I knew Stoick best." He pushed Fishlegs out of the way, getting rid of our best option. "If I don't return, know that all that I am, all that I do..." Before he could even finish the monologue, he burst into sobs. "I miss him so much," he whined. "I just need a moment."

"Da da da, we're doomed," Hiccup sighed, throwing the script aside.


	18. Chapter 18

"Gobber, the pageant's tonight, so are you sure you're gonna be able to do this?" He got up and advanced toward the sobbing Viking.

"I hoped it wasn't noticeable!"

"You know, it is, but Gobber, think of the kids." Hiccup looked back at our three children, his eyes beaming with pride. "We're doing this for them." My attention was suddenly snapped to Kjartan, who was slamming his head against a bench, just for the fun of it. I jumped up and pulled him away, bringing him to sit in my lap so he couldn't keep hitting his head.

"Aye, Hiccup. Brilliant, as always. All right, I'm okay."

"It's gonna be fine," Hiccup assured him. "Fine."

"Okay, people! Two minutes to curtain!" 

As people scrambled to get to their places, Hiccup came back down the stairs and approached me. I smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer against his chest.

"I'm sorry our entire day as been wrapped up in getting ready for the pageant. We haven't gotten to do anything we do on Snoggletog." I reached up and touched his cheek.

"It's fine, Hiccup. We'll still make dinner and give the kids their presents, we'll just do it tonight instead. All our traditions will still be there." He suddenly fell silent, tracing a hand up my arm as he refused to meet my eyes. "Hiccup? What's on your mind?" He was silent for another moment, before mumbling, so others around us couldn't hear him. 

"Those aren't... the tradition I was thinking of." I smirked at him, raising an eyebrow and remaining silent for a while, just to mess with him. "But I mean, if you're not--"

"We'll figure something out." An almost goofy smile crossed his face. "Now, come on. We have to get you into your Toothless costume.

As we moved backstage, families and villagers began to file in, taking their seats and packing in tight and making sure there was enough room for everyone. The low beating against a drum signaled the start of the production, while Gobber and Tuffnut delivered their lines. Hiccup kept his eyes focused on the "actors" as I fastened everything on the suit, trying to make sure he wouldn't fall out and get hurt.

"What is that? What is that?" He pointed aggressively in Tuff's direction, clearly responding to some line. "That never happened!"

"So Gobber took a few liberties."

"I don't know, there--- were dragons everywhere, and people doubting me, especially my own father." I tried to reach out and touch him, but he accidentally bat my arm away. "And then I stood my ground and touched one. I touched a dragon. That's hardcore." I took his hand, trying to reassure him.

"He's got the spirit of the story, and that's what this pageant is really about, right?"

"Yeah, I-I guess so."

" _Hiccup, you are weak and fear dragons. I am strong and understand them."_

"Honey, I don't know if I wanna go through with this."

"You're on!" Before he could protest any further, I slammed down the head of the Toothless suit and started to pull the ropes, lifting him off the ground and slowly moving him to look as though he were flying. I heard children in the crowd gasping in awe, and the smile on my son's face made my heart melt. Kerrigan, unfortunately, still seemed unimpressed, and Alith couldn't even see him. But she had already come around on dragons.

Hiccup pulled on the levers inside the suit to make the ear plates wave at the children, then spread the suit's wings. Gobber went on reciting his lines, suddenly bursting into sobs again and using a curtain to blow his nose, losing his beard in the process. And that's when the chaos happened.

I was told the curtain and beard caught fire, which spread to a rope and a shield that rolled and started causing things to fall. Snotlout jumped up from his place scrolling through the script and came back to help me try and put the flames out. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to any water or snow in time, so all we could do was stomp it out with our feet. The harness on Hiccup's suit suddenly snapped, sending him crashing onto the stage, and right as he sat up, an eye popped out. He tried his best to get things under control, but he clearly ended up pulling the wrong lever, because blue fire shot out instead.

Why he even gave it that functionality, I wouldn't understand.

I'm not really sure how things happened next, but somehow, Gobber and Hiccup managed to salvage the pageant, bringing it to an end and causing the audience to erupt into cheers. I sighed and leaned against a tree I'd rushed to for safety before heading back toward the stage.

"A little help here? Gobber? Anyone? Literally anyone?" My eyes widened and I rushed to my husband's side, helping to open up his suit and get him out of there. He still looked around, kind of lost, as I took his hand and led him off the stage. They had finished the pageant, that's what mattered.

The moment our feet touched the ground, Kjartan ran up and wrapped his arms around Hiccup's legs, a big smile adorning his face. Kerrigan held tightly onto Alith's hand, dragging her along as they approached us. They both had wide grins as well.

"Mom, Dad, that was the best pageant _ever_!" Kjartan cried.

"Toothless was so cool!" I laughed and leaned down to hug my children.

"I'm glad you liked it, kids. Now, come on. Let's head home for Snoggletog dinner." Gobber walked along with us as we headed back to our home, up at the top of a hill. Kjartan and Kerrigan ran in front of us, while Hiccup held tightly onto Alith's hand, helping to lead her home.

"I love dragons!" Kerrigan exclaimed. "And I love Toothless! He's beautiful! Why didn't you tell me you were really going to bring him here?" Hiccup and I glanced and each other, completely confused.

"I have literally no idea what she's talking about," he muttered.

"I thought she was old enough to understand that's just a suit..."

"That whole thing was not what I expected." 

We stopped by the statue of Stoick, spotting kids attempting to put a wreath around its neck. I felt a warm feeling spread in my chest, and Hiccup squeezed my hand a little tighter. 

"I'm Stoick the Vast." Kjartan puffed up his chest and stomped his feet, somehow having donned a helmet.

"And I'm Toothless. Let's be friends." Kerrigan rested her forehead against her brother's hand, reenacting the scene they had watched earlier.

"You were right. It was exactly what everyone needed. For the kids, and for the memory of my father."

"Oh." I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, sighing as he moved his free arm around my waist.

"Gobber, you have well honored my father and your friend."

"It was my deepest privilege to do so. Thank you, Hiccup." They smiled to each other, acknowledging the peace they had now made. "Well, guess I'll be heading home. Alone. Oh, the best Snoggletogs are spent in solitary, cavernous silence." We both smiled, having the same idea at the same time.

"Gobber, if you're free tonight--"

"I'd love to!" 

The six of us were almost back in the house, when Kerrigan stopped everyone in their tracks.

"Gobber, wait!" She grabbed the helmet off Kjartan's head and chucked it toward the front door. It took a second, but eventually, a mace came down and created a big dent in the helmet.

"Why, that's clever..."

"And..." Two arrows shot down from opposite directions, right into the wood. "You're good."

"Ha. So proud..." 

"We'll take them all down in the morning," I assured Hiccup.

Kerrigan opened the door, bathing everyone in an unearthly, green glow. Hiccup, Gobber, and I stared in awe as the three children rushed up to it. Although Alith couldn't see the object itself, she could tell there was an overwhelming amount of light coming from that direction. A strange, spire-like object sat on the mantle, radiating on the world around it.

"Whoa! Look at that!"

"It's so cool!"

"It's beautiful!"

"Hiccup, did you do this?" I whispered, still staring at the strange object.

"No." He reached up and took the bowl down, finding all the fish had been cleared out. "The bowl! It's empty!"

The realization of what happened here started to dawn on me, and the moment Hiccup and I met eyes, we both knew what the other was thinking.

"Toothless?"

"Can it be?"

Hiccup suddenly took off, rushing out onto the porch and looking up into the night sky. My jaw dropped as five dragons flew past the moon, the two larger ones black and white. It really was them... and from the looks of it, they had some kids of their own. Three, just like us.

"Toothless!"

We stared for a moment longer, until our kids came crashing into us. Hiccup and I chuckled and wrapped our arms around Alith, Kerrigan, and Kjartan, directing their attentions up toward the sky where Toothless, the Light Fury, and their young dragons were flying.

"Maybe it's our turn to visit them," I suggested. Hiccup smiled and nodded, clearly eager to get going. I'm sure he'd try to go now if it weren't Snoggletog.

Once the dragons were completely out of sight, we all went back inside and ate Snoggletog dinner, then the kids opened their presents. I leaned my head against Hiccup's chest as we watched them playing with their toys and running around with each other. I wasn't sure what time it was when Gobber suddenly got up and headed toward the kids.

"Well, I think I'm going to take the kids for a walk out to the statue of their grandfather, tell them more tales of his magnificent adventures." Hiccup and I looked at him curiously. "We'll be back later."

Without explaining, he ushered them out the door. Somehow, however, Hiccup and I knew exactly what he was doing.

"Well, that's..." 

"Mortifying?" I finished. He nodded, when I suddenly remembered the present I'd made for him. "Oh! Hold on! I have something for you."

I rushed up the stairs and dug around in my drawers, until I found the piece of parchment I was looking for. I hid it behind my back as I made my way down the stairs. I could see something on the table beside him as well, but I wanted to give him mine first. I quickly removed my hand from behind my back and presented him with the paper.

"I drew this, uh... for you. I know I did one of you, Toothless, and I when we were younger, but I figured... you needed an updated one, you know?" The longer his eyes scanned over it, the wider his smile got, until he looked up at me with shimmering eyes.

"Reign, this is perfect. Thank you so much." He stared for another moment, then reached behind him and handed the book to me. My eyes scanned over it, trying to figure out what it was, until I spotted the Skrill etched on the front.

"Is this... is this my father's book of maps?" He nodded. "Where... how did you find this?"

"Dagur dug it up and gave it to me the last time we were there. He knew it'd go to better use with you than with him and Heather." I lunged out and hugged him, sighing happily. He leaned down and kissed me, and I felt completely content. I smirked and rolled my eyes at him. "Come on."

He chuckled and pecked my forehead.

"Happy Snoggletog, Reign."

"Happy Snoggletog, Hiccup."


	19. Epilogue

_There were dragons when I was a girl. Ah, there were great, grim sky dragons that nested on the clifftops like giant, scary birds. Little, brown, scuttly dragons that hunted down the mice and rats in well-organized packs. Preposterously huge sea dragons that were 20 times as big as the blue whale. Some say they crawled back into the sea, leaving not a bone nor a fang for men to remember them by. Others say they were nothing but folktales to begin with. I don't know, I'm okay with that._

I yanked on the rope directing our sail one last time, getting it to turn in the right direction so our ship wouldn't blow over. Kerrigan watched me in awe, while Alith stood by her sister's side, fascinated by the feel of the sea breeze. Hiccup shifted Kjartan against his hip, trying to keep him from falling off as he squirmed. The two of them dropped the anchor, solidifying our choice to come here and find them.

Once I made my way over to Hiccup, I took Kjartan from his arms and rested him against my side. I watched him warily, hoping that Toothless would, in fact remember him, and their visit on Snoggletog hadn't been some coincidence. The mist began to clear as Hiccup approached the front of the boat, revealing five dragons resting on the rocks. Toothless got up from his relaxed position, crouched low as he approached the edges of the rocks before lunging forward and landing on the bow of the boat. The entire thing rocked as he eyed Hiccup, lids narrowed. I set Kjartan down and crouched, ushering my daughters behind me as my son buried his face in my knee.

"Hey," Hiccup whispered, extending his hand out. "Hey there, bud. Remember me?" Kjartan whimpered the closer Toothless got.

"It's okay," I reassured him, rubbing his back lightly.

Hiccup closed his eyes and turned his head away, waiting for Toothless to do whatever he would. Toothless got up on his back legs and sniffed at Hiccup, and for a moment, my heart jumped as I considered the possibility he wouldn't remember.

Then, suddenly, his pupils widened, and he completely tackled his best friend. I let out breath I didn't realize I had been holding in, allowing a bit of a laugh to escape as well.

"Hey, I am glad to see you too, bud." Toothless pranced around the boat, doing circles around Hiccup.

"He's not gonna eat your father." I almost sounded like I was attempting to convince myself of that, more than the kids.

"Hey! How's the tail holding up? Probably could use some oil and a little fine-tuning." I reached out and grabbed Alith and Kerrigan's arms, bringing them in front of me.

"Look, it's okay. They're friends."

Once Toothless finished oogling over his friend, he looked over in my direction, cocking his head at the three children. He seemed to recognize the twins, but Kjartan was completely new to him. Hiccup reached his hand out toward his children, urging them to come closer.

"Come on. Here."

I helped guide Alith over to her father, allowing him to take her hand and extend it out. Kerrigan and Kjartan did the same, but they covered their eyes and looked at Toothless nervously, while Alith faced him head on. Hiccup directed her head away so that Toothless wouldn't feel intimidated.

"He won't hurt you. Hold your hands out, like this. That's it." I watched with baited breath. Toothless had never really met the children before, and I didn't really know how he would react. Hiccup caught my eyes for a moment and nodded, trying to put me at ease. I knew he would get up and hold me if he didn't want to stay by his children, just to make sure nothing happened.

Thankfully, Toothless nuzzled their palms, purring lightly. Slowly, Alith, Kerrigan, and Kjartan all turned their heads toward the dragon, smiling and staring at him. He purred at them again, then pushed back, smiling at me. I moved forward and wrapped my arms around the Night Fury's head, hugging him. He nuzzled into my chest until I pushed away, finding my place next to Hiccup.

"Do you want to ride on him?" Hiccup asked, leaning down to his son and daughters. All their faces lit up and they nodded, and Hiccup secured the saddle before grabbing Kjartan's hand and helping him up, securing him in front of him.

Toothless let out a loud roar, and from the depths of the Hidden World, a purple Thunderdrum shot up and onto our boat. I smiled and stepped forward, waiting for my dragon to recognize me. She jumped and bounced, clearly excited I was back. I found my own saddle and secured it around Shriek, keeping a tight grip on Alith and Kerrigan as we took off. 

Hiccup took Kjartan on a bumpy joyride, all the while making sure to hold onto him tight, while the twins and I made Shriek go as fast as she could. We went right past Toothless, leaving them far behind, before slowing so we could be with everyone else. The Light Fury flew close by, keeping an eye on her three babies, whom Hiccup and I decided to name Night Lights. One of them sneezed, activating their cloaking abilities for a moment before they appeared again. 

"Quick, cover your ears." My girls did as told, and I tapped Shriek before moving my hands back to my ears. She let out a mighty roar, practically shaking the cloud cover before taking her place in front of Hiccup, Kjartan, and Toothless again. I looked back at them and nodded forward, indicating for him to speed up. I watched him smirk, then they came in above us. Toothless turned upside down and Hiccup dropped Kjartan on my back, while I passed Alith and Kerrigan off to thier father. He secured his arms tightly around his blind daughter's waist as she clung to him. She always would look to him for protection, just as Hiccup would with Toothless at times. I smiled at the two families, all flying together-- something I thought would never happen again.

_Legend says that when the ground quakes or lava spews from the earth, it's the dragons letting us know they're still here. Waiting for us to figure out how to get along. Yes, the world believes the dragons are gone, if they ever existed at all. But we Berkians, we know otherwise. And we'll guard this secret until the time comes when the dragons can return in peace._


End file.
